Lost in Spira? Follow Me to Get Home!
by Golden-Assassin
Summary: My PS2 decides to glow gold, and I touch it. What happens when it turns out it transported me to Spira? Follow my adventures with the FFX gang as I try to find out why I'm here and return home! MeXSurprise! Please Read and Review!
1. Welcome to Spria WhAt!

**Author: **All right, I know, a new story, whatever, don't judge me. This story was never here on , it was on , er, or .net, whatever, I haven't been on that site in years. I know, it's a little bit of a stale topic, but I'm so obsessed with _Final Fantasy X_ that I had to follow in everybody else's footsteps. So, what would happen if I ended up in _FFX_? I wish that was possible, haha.

**Setsuna:** Thank Yevon it's not me in a story for once. Blue's Clues story doesn't count 'cause that's technically you…er, me… What-the-fuck-ever.

**Author:** Thank Yevon I don't have to deal with your bitchy attitude for this story.

**Setsuna:** No, but you'll torture me with a Tuna story.

**Author: **Well, since you don't exist in this story, it's going to be as close as possible to the actual script (which I found on the internet, oh sure, there's a script for THIS game, but NOT one for _Fallout 3_.)

**Setsuna: **Shut up, people don't want to read your shit. You better hope all this swearing doesn't bump you up a rating.

**Author: **Yeah, I know, I swear a lot, heh heh. I really hope dropping one or two F-bombs in this story isn't going to kill the rating. I'm going to try something new here. I've read a lot of really good stories that switch between third person and first person, so I'm going to give it a shot. I figured new re-write, time for something new. I might just do the introduction and some other little parts in third person, but we'll just have to see ^_~

**By the way, this story is rated T for Teen by the SSS Corp. (Setsuna Says So) for excessive swearing by yours truly, and some violence. Basically, everything it says on the back of the **_**Final Fantasy X**_** box with Excessive Swearing. I need to make a logo for SSS Corp…but that's beside the point ^_~**

**(Also, I do not own **_**Final Fantasy X**_**, the story, or the characters. I **_**would**_** however, like to own Auron and Tidus if I could ^_~ but if I had to choose just one, then Auron for sure.)**

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A young woman is sitting in a dorm room at her college. It's a Saturday, the rest of her dorm mates are out or still have their doors closed. Earlier that day she went to the football game, but now it was time to just sit back and relax. Her 360 needs a break, and she's in the mood for something a bit more…well, in this console war, a PS2 game would probably be considered 'old school,' but to her it was the greatest game in the world. She sets up her PS2 on top of her 360 and pops in her game disc…and then waits for five minutes for her PS2 Fat to load the game, so she decides to grab a can of Full Throttle and a Rice Krispie and settles down with her back on the pillows. She loads up her saved game from the Calm Lands, but that's when something strange happens. Despite the fact that she had already logged in about 20 hours of game play, the game decides to start over from the beginning. She notices the opening was different, too. All the characters weren't looking at the fire like they were supposed to, oh no, they were looking at the 'camera.' Tidus still stood up and walked to the hill, and Yuna still looked sad and at the ground when he put his hand on her shoulder, but this time there were no words spoken after Tidus made it to the hill. A loud humming suddenly fills the dorm room, and the PS2 takes on an unearthly gold glow. Unable to contain her curiosity, the woman pushes herself off of her bed and walks slowly over to the set of drawers that her consoles rested on and lightly touches the PS2. The gold glow surrounds her and a rush of images clouds her mind, but all of them are blurry and unable to be interpreted. The glow gets brighter and the woman appears to disintegrate, but to her, it was as if she blacked out.

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I wonder what happened. All I know is I was messing around with my Playstation 2 after it started to glow gold. Next thing I know I black out and suddenly it feels like I'm laying on sand. Sand?! There's no beach here, absolutely no beach around my college! Something's going on. I guess the only thing I can do is push myself off of the ground. Ugh, my body feels like crap, I must have hit the ground pretty hard.

I finally get to my feet and have a look around where I landed. I am in fact on a beach, but uh…where? I will say one thing, it's gorgeous! The ocean seems to stretch out for forever and the breeze feels wonderful! There's a boat dock on my right, and it looks like there's a path that goes off through two walls of rock to…a lush green…area? Wait a minute! There's no way I'm where I think I am, that's crazy! I run over to the water and kneel in front of it and start splashing my face with water. That's when I start hearing voices to my left. They have a very distinctive accent, one a character from my favorite game has. I gulp and turn my head. Three guys come running out from the path dressed in yellow outfits and carrying…blue bumpy soccer-like balls. One of them, I can't believe it! has an orange cowlick and a blue headband. This is impossible…I can't be here!! I must be dreaming. I splash more water on my face to see if I can wake myself up. He must've seen me, he's coming over here! What the hell am I supposed to say?! 'Hi, Wakka, I know who you are because I've played your game over and over again. What's a game? Well, I'll explain…' As if on cue, Wakka starts speaking to me.

"Hey, you! Ya, you!" he stands next to me. I gulp again and look up at his face. He squints and gives me a once over. "You're new, ya? Came off the boat this mornin'?" I can only stare at him. Here he is, speaking to me plain as the glasses on my face…wait a minute! My glasses! I don't feel them on my face. I don't say anything to him and I run over to where I woke up and frantically start feeling around in the sand. Wakka looks confused and jogs over to me, kneeling next to me and helping me look. "What'cha lookin' for?"

"My glasses!" I screech, saying my first words to him and brining my hands up and flinging sand everywhere. He holds up a hand to shield his eyes from the sand I so graciously rained over him. "I know they're here! They're kinda small, and they're black with like a blue line! Seriously, help me find my glasses!!" Wakka shrugs and feels through the sand as well, but both of us find nothing.

"Sorry, ya? I don't seem to have found 'em. What are they, by the way?" I stop my search and gasp slightly. Well, duh, stupid! Have you seen anyone in the game that wears glasses! Lucky assholes apparently have perfect vision that they don't need glasses! Well, Auron wears sunglasses, but I think those are a different story. I shake my head and look over to where the other two blitzers are practicing and realize something. I can see them just fine! Almost every detail on their outfits is as clear as a bell to me.

"Well, uh…they, ya see…" I try to explain, my hands frantically moving around as I speak. I can't help it, I talk with my hands! "They're sorta like…glass and they used to help me see, but uh…apparently when I fell my eyes were fixed, so it looks like I don't need them anymore! Heh heh…" Wakka gives me a strange look.

"Ya fell?" he says as he gets to his feet, extending a hand to me for assistance in helping me up, which I accept graciously. "So ya didn't come off the boat this mornin'…" He mulls over what I said and he gets this look like a light bulb just exploded over his head. "You must've got close to Sin or somethin', ya?" he shakes his head. I nod quickly; yeah sure, I'll use the same excuse Tidus uses. I'll get sympathetic looks, but at least I won't have to explain myself. "That's too bad, ya? But! at least you're alive! Praise-" he starts to say and starts to do the prayer gesture, but I stop him.

"Yeah, yeah, Praise Be to Yevon, I got it," I quickly do the gesture and stand up straight as soon as I can. I hear my back crack and I wince. "Uh…so like, it appears you've got practice, so I'm going to go head to Besaid Village. Do you think the Crusaders would mind if I like, crashed there? I don't have any gil on me, but I'll help out if I can!" Wakka seems shocked at my vast knowledge of Besaid. Well, duh, idiot, you just told him you got close to Sin so of course he won't expect you to know anything about the island, let alone about the Crusaders lodge! I need to learn to watch my mouth.

"Uh…ya sure you can make it there yourself? If ya fell, you probably shouldn't walk by yourself, ya?" He moves over to me and takes my arm gently. "I'll take ya there. I don't need to practice, but my boys sure do, ya?" he laughs lightly and begins to lead me to the path he came running down only moments earlier. I nod, well, that does sound like a good idea, I have no means by which to fight fiends…well, there is something I could try… Wakka leaves me at the opening of the path and returns to the other two blitzers, obviously explaining to them my situation. That's not hard to tell, seeing as how they both turn to me and do the Prayer gesture. I wave slightly and nod my thanks. I begin to walk slowly down the path and head over to the path that had been made over the large old machina. What was I going to do? Why the hell am I here in a video game world? I suddenly realize that I haven't taken a look at myself since I woke up. I wonder if any of my clothes are torn. I stop at the top of the machina and look down at myself and almost scream.

My clothes are different?! That happened, too?! What the hell is going on! When I got home from the football game I was wearing my red tank top and my black skinny jeans (I wore my football jersey over the tank top, I mean, come on, it's a jersey and it has holes, I don't want people to see my goodies!). What I currently find myself looking at is a lot different. Instead of my jeans, I'm wearing what looks to be black bicycle shorts that are shorter than I normally wear my shorts, like I wear my shorts to the knee, I'm wearing these shorts to halfway to my knee! Well, uh…at least my legs look a bit shapelier… There was something tied around my waist, too, with a gold buckle in the front. Attached to it and hanging from the front to behind me, it's hard to explain, like it's a long layered black cloth that isn't the same length all around me, kinda like a skirtish…thing, but it's really cool! Yay, I really like my boots. They remind me of the knee high high-heeled boots I have back home, but they don't have a zipper, they only tie up in the front, well, technically the ones back home do, too, but it's more to make them fit me. Plus, the heel's not skinny; it's a bit wider and looks more stable, and yay, it makes the 'click' noise! Good, haha, I don't want to be a klutz because of my shoes here! My tank top's changed into a kind of corset…it's dark red with the sides tied up with long bright red ribbons, so apparently when I put my shirt…er, top, on, I have to tie it up. My arms have the sleeve-type arm warmers that Yuna wears, except they're black, longer, and there are gold dragon patterns decorating the fabric (how I missed these when I was looking for my glasses I have no idea). This outfit is so gorgeous! I reach up and touch my hair. It feels like the length and style hasn't changed, it's still an angled bob, thank goodness. My hair's still dyed black, too, and for that I'm thankful. I feel as though there's something around my neck, so I move my hand and touch there. It feels like I'm wearing some kind of choker, it feels like lace, and there's a charm dangling from it. I touch the charm, feeling it with my fingers. From what I can feel, it's a large S pendant with a dragon wrapped around it. What's with all the dragons? They're on my sleeves and there's one on my charm…

I suddenly hear something coming up behind me, so I turn around quickly, arms raised as if I'm going to beat down a fiend. Wakka raises one of his arms up and waves it around (the other one's carrying a blitzball, apparently the one he uses as a weapon). "Whoa, whoa, easy there, ya? Ya look like you're going to beat me up!" I put my arms down and laugh lightly.

"Oh, uh…sorry, Wakka, I uh…thought you might be a fiend." I quickly cover my mouth. What the hell did I just say? He never introduced himself to me, how am I going to get out of this one!? Wakka just smiles, walks up the path, past me, and starts heading down the next pathway.

"I take it ya heard of me from the blitzball games in Luca, is that it?" I nod and start following him, jogging a bit to catch up. "Ya, I figured ya would. But, uh, ya never told me your name, ya?" he turns his head to look at me and smiles. I laugh lightly, oh yeah, duh stupid.

"Sorry. There wasn't really time for introductions back there while I was freaking out over what happened, hah," I smile back. I don't know why, but I'm starting to look at Wakka in a whole new light, kinda like when Wakka felt bad about what happened to Home and tried comforting Rikku…well, until the whole 'happy fireworks' bit, but at least he made up for it! I just always kinda found him annoying and whiny, but walking with him like this, and him looking out for me, well, he seems like a really nice guy. "My name's Stephanie. You're welcome to call me Steph if you want, but most people don't. Like, it's easier to tell teachers just to call me Stephanie, it just sounds a bit more professional, plus, there was this one time in middle school I told a teacher to call me Steph and she never did, so I just started going by Stephanie, and-" I stop talking. Wow, I kept going on. Wakka didn't seem to mind; he was simply nodding his head and smiling while I was rambling on. "Sorry, it's just…I ramble when I get kinda nervous and stuff."

"Hey, it's understandable, ya? Ya fell apparently and if you were close to Sin it's only obvious that you're nervous, it's okay." I nod and keep walking with him down the paths, over the bridges, thankful that we don't see any fiends, but that doesn't stop Wakka from bringing them up. "So, I got a question, ya? Ya wanted to walk to the Village by yourself, but do ya have a way to fight fiends?" I tap my chin with my index finger and think. Well, I'm not sure if I suddenly acquired magic upon entering Spira…

"To be honest…" I start, looking around, seeing if there was one of the wolf fiends to start waving my hands to see if I could do magic, "I'm not sure. I'll admit, I have no talent when it comes to fighting, at least, I think so, but considering that I fell and my vision obviously got fixed, who knows if I suddenly acquired fighting skills, too!" I laugh lightly. "I hope I got magic!" Wakka turns his head and gives me another look-over.

"I gotta say, ya kinda look like you could be a Summoner," he nods to himself. "Maybe you were trying to fight Sin and ya lost your memory."

"No! I know my memory, I know exactly what happened and that's not it!" I suddenly yell and stop walking. Wakka stops walking as well and takes a step back, holding up a hand in defense.

"Whoa, whoa, sorry, ya!" his voice wavers slightly. "I didn't know it would be a sore spot." He steps back over next to me and starts walking again, motioning me to follow, which I do. "So, do ya wanna tell me about what happened then?"

"Uh…no, actually," I shake my head. "I don't think you'd be able to comprehend what I would tell you…" Wakka shrugs and looks forward. "I wish _I_ could comprehend it… But you brought up an interesting point; I do kinda look like a Summoner, don't I?" I give a little twirl as I walk, letting the cloth buckled around my waist flow out. "I wonder why…"

"Ya know, there is a Temple here on Besaid," he says and points to the Village which has come into full view. "Maybe you can talk to one of the priests and they can help you." I tap my chin with my finger again and ponder over what he said. You know, that could work. Maybe what happened to me is connected to the Temple somehow, I mean, come on, a lot of stuff in the game is! There has to be an answer in the Temple, it makes sense! I nod vigorously and Wakka and I take a step into the Village.

"Wow, it looks a lot bigger in person than it does in the game," I mumble to myself. Wakka looks over to me curiously and smartly decides not to say anything. "Well, thank you very much for your help, Wakka." I bow politely and wonder if I look a lot like Yuna when she bows. Wakka laughs lightly and scratches the back of his head.

"Hey, it's no problem, ya?" he grins widely. "Now, go present yourself to the Temple and let's hope they can give ya some answers." I nod and straighten, forgetting the fact that I wanted any rest in the first place and start walking towards the Temple steps when Wakka calls out to me. "When you're finished there, ya come and find my house, I'll set ya up!" I smile and look over my shoulder at him.

"Will do! Thanks again, Wakka!" I wave and turn my head back to look forward. I can't seem to wipe this grin off my face. Wakka really is a nice guy, I mean, I'm brand new, confused as all hell, and he takes time out of his day to help me. I couldn't be more grateful.

I walk into the entrance of the Temple and gasp slightly. I mean, it was beautiful in game, but wow, in person! Everything is so much more beautiful in person! I know the Temple in Besaid isn't much, but seeing it first hand, ground level like this, wow! There were people there praying like in the game, and there was a priest walking around, watching over everyone. I smile and walk over to look at the statues in the Temple, stopping in front of the steps to the Chamber. The Summoners of the past looked so magnificent and regal, as did the large stone carvings of Yunalesca and Zaon. The priest notices me looking around and walks over to me.

"Ten years have passed since Lord Braska became High Summoner, and finally, we have received a statue for our Temple," he speaks to me, bowing to the statue of Braska. I smile and nod.

"It seems kinda sad that it was ten years ago and now you finally receive his statue," I say, trying to strike a conversation and make myself less nervous. Truth be told, I always wondered that myself. The priest chuckles and nods in agreement.

"Well, when you think about it, we are on an island, and there are several Temples located throughout Spira." I laugh lightly.

"That does make sense. Well, at least he's immortalized now," I bow to Braska's statue as well, and then turn to look at the priest. "Um…Sir…" I begin, but suddenly the words fail me. How can this priest help me? All he'll do is pray for my "toxin" or whatever to go away and pray for Yevon to help me, and I know damn well that won't work at all!

"Is there something wrong, child?" he asks me, walking closer. I smile sadly and shrug. "I will do what I can to help if there is a problem." I press my lips together and think. Well, I won't know anything until I try, and trying is all I got at the moment. I nod.

"Uhh…yeah, there is a bit of a problem…" I start, looking around at the other people in the Temple. They're not paying attention, so I guess it's okay for me to just say it here in the main room. "I was wondering…if you could help me get some answers." The priest nods and looks me in the eyes. "Here's my situation…I'm not…from here."

"I know that, child, I know everyone in the Village." I shake my head.

"It's not like that, ya see…" I sigh deeply. "I think I got transported here…to Spira…from another…dimension, I guess. I know it sounds weird and strange, but I think it's true…" The priest gives me an odd look. "Seriously, I'm not joking! I think I'm from some other dimension! I know what's going to happen here and how to stop Sin, you're in a video game, I'm in a video game, this is all fake!" I scream. With that, I draw attention to myself. All the people who were praying are looking at me with scared looks on their faces. I begin to panic; I probably look like a nutcase. Hell, I even feel like a nutcase! "Why am I here, who brought me here, what the hell is going on?!"

"Shhh, child, stop saying such nonsense," the priest takes a few steps back away from me. I feel like such an idiot. But to me, how else was I going to say it? "Child…were you close to Sin?"

"No, damnit, I was nowhere near him! My Playstation 2 started acting up and I touched it and I landed here in Besaid!" I notice I'm still yelling, but I need to get the truth off of my chest. I'm not about to take the sissy way out and lie by saying I was close to Sin…again. "I'm not lying!" I start to cry. I'm scared, alone, no one believes me, and I just want to go home! The people in the Temple start whispering between each other and pointing at me.

"But, child, if you are not from Spira, why are you dressed like that? You look as though you could be a Summoner," the priest tries to counter me.

"I don't know, I just said I'm not sure what happened, I got transported here from my home and I'm scared to death!" I fall to my knees and hold my face in my hands and cry. "I want to go home…I want someone to believe me! I'm scared shitless, I don't know how to fight, I don't know how to get home! I'm so scared! Please!" I look up to the people standing in the Temple with a desperate look on my face. "Please, please someone help me! I'm so scared, I want to go home!!"

"It's all right, Miss," a soft voice suddenly interjects my yelling. I look over to the entrance to the Temple and see a young woman, only a few years younger than me with shoulder length brown hair, a white top and a purple skirt. Yuna? What's she doing here? I must be here a bit earlier than when Tidus comes to Besaid, seeing as how she's not in the Chamber of the Fayth yet. "I believe you."

"Lady Yuna!" the priest exclaims and bows to her using the Prayer gesture. "It is good to see you, but I believe now is not the best time for you to enter the Chamber seeing as how we have this…I swear she is infested with Sin's toxin!" I shake my head and give another desperate yell.

"Why won't anyone believe me?! I don't belong here, I belong back home, in college, doing my school work and going to work! I don't know why I'm here!" I begin to cry harder. "Yuna, I believe you when you say you believe me, please, help!"

"Don't speak to the apprentice Summoner like that, young lady!" a woman standing near the entrance screams at me. "You need help! You've been touched by Sin!"

"I have not!!" I scream, placing my hands on my head and doubling over.

"Please, everyone!" Yuna runs into the middle of the Temple and stands there, looking around at everybody. "Can't you see she's scared? I believe she speaks the truth, and I really don't like all of you jumping to conclusions!" I can't believe it. Yuna's really standing up for me, and she definitely seems to be giving everyone in the Temple a guilt trip. I look up at her, taking my hands off of my head. "Miss, I'm truly sorry for what happened to you," she walks over to me and kneels down and looks me in the face. "I'll try to help you as best I can if you're willing to follow me." I sniffle and suddenly throw my arms around her and cry more. Yuna smiles lightly and wraps her arms around me, patting my back gently. "Please, follow me." She lets go and stands up, and I do the same. I wipe my eyes, noticing I'm apparently wearing make-up, seeing as how I have red mascara, black eye liner, and gray eye shadow on my hand. I must look like a clown. Yuna just smiles and begins walking to the doors to head back outside. Having no choice but to follow (plus, I basically told her I would), I fall in step behind her, head bowed so I don't make eye-contact with anyone standing around.

After we head outside, I notice a woman who looks a bit older than em standing next to the Temple doors. She's wearing a low-cut black dress with belts attached all over the skirt area, and her hair is done up in a bun with three long braids cascading down her back from the bun. It's Lulu. I wonder why she didn't come in the Temple with Yuna. She gives me an odd look but then turns to Yuna. "Is this the young woman making all the commotion in the Temple?" I keep my head down, ashamed at everything I've caused thus far.

"Well, yes, she is," Yuna's soft voice answers her Guardian. "She's scared, Lulu, and I'm surprised at how mean everyone was to her in there." I feel Yuna's hands on my shoulders, as if comforting me.

"But it's true, isn't it?" Lulu asks, and I see her begin to walk around me, inspecting me as if I was a piece of meat. "She was close to-"

"No, damnit!" I interrupt, looking Lulu in the face for the first time. "I was transported here from like, my dimension, I guess, and I am getting so damn sick of the first thing out of everyone's mouth being 'Were you close to Sin?'! Seriously, damnit!!" Lulu steps back, trying to pull Yuna with her, but Yuna refuses to budge.

"Lulu, please," she pleads, "we need to hear out her whole story. Let's go to Wakka's so all of us can hear it." I look at Yuna with guilt written all over my face.

"Um…I kinda…" I stutter, my eyes glancing over to Wakka's tent, "lied to him." Yuna just smiles again, waiting for me to continue. "I told him, well, he was the one who found me on the beach, and I kinda lied and told him I was close to Sin, but I was scared and didn't know what to do, so out of panic I lied, and I'm really sorry!" I finally finish my ramble with a deep breath, and I didn't realize I spoke pretty fast, so I hope Yuna and Lulu got all that. Thankfully, Yuna nods in understanding. Lulu just shrugs.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure he'll understand your reasoning. I certainly do," Yuna responds and begins leading me towards Wakka's tent.

When we get there, Yuna gently pushes me inside, following after me with Lulu following us. Wakka's sitting on the floor next to a large pot where he's stirring what looks like stew. I blush slightly as I hear my stomach rumble. I forgot to get dinner when I got back from the football game. Wakka looks up with a smile. "Looks like ya found my two favorite girls, ya?" I giggle slightly. "So, how'd it go in the Temple?" Without thinking, I simply let my head droop.

"She got accused for something that's not true," Yuna says, sitting down on what looks to be some sort of couch. I take a seat next to here, and Lulu sits down across from us on another "couch."

"Ya look like you've been cryin', you okay?" Wakka says as he stands up and grabs a bowl next to him on a table, filling it up with the stew and then hands it to me. He then starts filling three more bowls for him, Yuna, and Lulu.

"Well, first off," I sigh gently, "I want to apologize for lying to you earlier." He just looks confused as he takes a seat next to Lulu and then passes out spoons. I take the last one as Yuna hands it to me and begin to play with the vegetables in the stew. "I told you I got close to Sin, when in reality…that's not true."

"Then where could you have come from?" Lulu asks. "Are you sure you didn't come off the boat this morning?" I shake my head and eat a large spoonful of the stew to quiet my stomach.

"I'm not from this world at all. You see…I was, well, this is going to be really hard to explain…" All three of them are looking intently at me and eating their stew. I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with all this attention towards me. With a deep breath I start talking again. "You guys are in what's called a ______ in my world." I stop. Wait, I know I said "video game," but I didn't hear it.

"We're in a 'what' now?" Lulu says. Great, they didn't hear it either.

"It's called a ______," I start again, still confused, but decide to keep trying to explain. "W-well, in it, someone plays-" and suddenly it's like I lost my voice. I know my mouth's moving, but I can't hear anything. Was something taking away my ability to explain what happened to me? Now even Yuna's starting to look at me like I'm a weirdo.

"Is something wrong with your voice?" Yuna asks. It's obvious she's trying hard not to jump to the toxin conclusion like everyone else.

"No…" I say, taking another deep breath. "I think…I think I'm suddenly unable to tell you guys what happened… I really wish I knew why…" As if being scared earlier wasn't enough, now I'm unable to get help from the few people who might actually be able to help me.

"Perhaps…" Lulu beings to muse, placing her now empty bowl at her feet. "Perhaps there is some strong power at work here over you that not even the Temple can explain."

"Ya think she should stick with us, then?" Wakka speaks up, watching me carefully. "Maybe travelling with us will get her some answers."

"Maybe, but that is, of course, if she wants to," Lulu nods in agreement to Wakka's idea. "Would that be all right with you?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea, considering you guys are going to travel all over Spira, who knows, I could get answers somewhere I wouldn't think of looking!" I smile, finally beginning to feel a bit better about my situation.

"Then it's settled," Yuna claps her hands together. "You'll come with us and we'll help in any way we can to help you get answers."

"Thanks a lot you guys." I feel myself starting to tear up. "This really means a lot to me. A lot more than you guys could ever imagine."

"No problem, ya?" Wakka laughs. "Now eat up, and then ya can head to the Crusader's Lodge. I got a bed all made up for ya since ya mentioned earlier ya wanted to rest." I grin and finish my meal, handing Wakka my empty bowl which he takes with a smile. Yuna and Lulu lead me outside after I give Wakka my thanks yet again. He just responds with a wave and another smile. The sun is beginning to descend and the street is empty. Everyone else must be eating dinner. The three of us head over to the Lodge.

"We'll let you know what's going on tomorrow since it's very obvious you need your rest," Yuna says to me as they walk me inside. "So don't worry about sleeping in too late or something. We understand."

"I feel kinda bad that I want to go to sleep already when it seems like it's only six in the evening," I laugh. "You have no idea how early that is for me!" The two women just smile. "Thanks again, I really mean it, thank you."

"Don't worry about it, just go ahead and rest up," Lulu smiles and gently pushes me towards the back of the Lodge.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Yuna says with a smile and waves. I smile and wave back as the two of them walk out. I open the curtains separating the beds from the front room. None of the beds are taken, so I decide to take one of the two at the very back. I lie down on the bed and roll over onto my left side so my back is facing the curtains. Thankfully it doesn't take long for my eyelids to get heavy and close. I slowly feel myself drifting off to sleep.

Before I fall asleep completely, I hear a very familiar voice. It sounds like the Fayth from Bevelle, you know, the little kid who likes to bother Tidus. A lot of the words sound muffled and I can't understand them, but finally before I do fall asleep I hear two words that I know are going to bug me like crazy.

"_Welcome home…"_

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**Author: **Yay, it's done! If you guys review and you see any mistakes anywhere (like verb agreement), please let me know. I looked over this a ton of times and changed a lot of verb tenses (I seem to screw them up a lot) but even the best writers overlook some agreements or any kind of grammatical errors. (Yevon only knows if there are any problems with the first paragraph. I hope it sounds okay, I read it aloud and everything, but if someone thinks they have a better idea for that paragraph to be written feel free to let me know what I can change!)


	2. Class Aquired

**Author: **First off, thanks to all of you who reviewed and alerted this story, I appreciate it! So, here's the second chapter. Sorry it took a while…I slept in one of my Bio. 101 classes and one of the classes I actually paid full attention…I'm serious.

**Setsuna: **Maybe you should always pay full attention.

**Author: **Maybe English majors shouldn't have to take science classes.

**Setsuna: **…No one cares about your classes.

**Author: **I know, but I feel the need to explain the delay.

**Setsuna: **You were lazy, that's all there is to it.

**Author: **……….

**Setsuna: **What?

**Author: ****Proceeds to kick Setsuna out of opening note.** Anyways! Sorry 'bout that… So, here ya go!

**This story is rated T for Teen by the SSS Corp. (Setsuna Says So) for excessive swearing by yours truly, and some violence. Basically, everything it says on the back of the **_**Final Fantasy X**_** box with Excessive Swearing.**

**(Also, I do not own **_**Final Fantasy X**_**, the story, or the characters. I **_**would**_** however, like to own Auron and/or Tidus if I could, but if I had to pick just one it would totally be Auron ^_~)**

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"Stephanie…" I hear a gruff voice say. Hmm, it's not Wakka… I open my eyes and I realize I'm lying in the grass. It's nighttime, so there's a small fire going. I can see a few Malboros fighting each other in the distance. There's only one place Malboros live: The Calm Lands. How I got from one end of Spira to basically the other I have no idea, but I figure I must have fallen again.

No…I couldn't have. My body doesn't hurt. In fact, I feel like I've been sleeping (well, duh). My head's resting on what feels like a pillow and something's draped over me like a blanket. It's red, has a large shoulder adornment, and there's a high collar attached. There's only one thing in Spira that looks like this…Auron's coat!! Eeek! Auron's coat is draped over me!! Wait…why? I lift my head and see Auron, the man himself, sitting next to me. His sunglasses are off, and he's looking at me with that gorgeous russet brown eye! I feel like I'm gonna faint!!

************

And, go figure, instead of closing my eyes and fainting, I open my eyes and wake up. Typical. Like I can snag Auron. Although… Nah, no time for that now. I feel wide awake, so sitting up in bed is an easy feat. I can see the outside through a crack in one of the curtains, er, tent flaps, whatever! that make this thing a lodge, and it still looks slightly dark outside, like the sun is close to rising. Hahaha….right, like I really woke up before dawn… Well, I did go to bed early. I stretch, reaching my arms in the air and let out a long yawn in the process. Since I'm up so early, I might as well go do some exploring, so with a grin I swing my legs off the side of the bed and stand up. Actually, I should probably get breakfast first, haha, my stomach's yelling at me. Hang on, tummy, I'll feed you! Yeah, I speak to my stomach when it growls, so what?

I open the curtains separating the rooms of the lodge and step into the front room. On the table there's a spread of various foods; eggs, toast, …fruit…, and it looks like a few different types of juice…and milk! (probably from a Shoopuf for something, unless there are cows that I haven't seen) The Crusader at the front desk greets me with a smile and says something along the lines of, "Help yourself" in a jolly voice. I give a small grin and set up a plate with some eggs, toast, and what I assume is Spira's equivalent of bacon, and I get myself a glass of milk as well. I sit myself down at one end of the table and start eating, thankful the Crusader at the desk left for "morning exercise" I think he said, just as jolly as when he spoke to me earlier. Good, because I really don't want to explain my confusing situation.

Speaking of confusing situation, being alone goes give me an idea. Halfway through my breakfast, I decide to try speaking about my situation. I start rambling on about a video game, how I'm impartial to always using Auron, Tidus, Rikku, and Lulu, about how I cheat to get the Legendary Weapons (thank you Action Replay Ultimate Codes…I beat the game like four times before I bought it, so don't judge me), and more _Final Fantasy X_ shit. I hear myself just fine. Unlike yesterday, I hear every word that comes out of my mouth. What the hell? I can talk about it to myself but not to Lulu, Wakka, or Yuna?! Argh, I'm getting so pissed again! Sighing deeply, I finish my meal in silence and place my dishes into a large tub with other dirty dishes, and then step outside.

Since it's an island, it's nice and warm here even though it's so early (wish I could say that about home). I can see the sun peaking over the horizon. With a stretch, I turn and decide to investigate the woods surrounding the village. Thankfully, the woods are nice and quiet, plus I highly doubt fiends would get this close to the village with the several Crusaders around. The woods are your stereotypical woods; lots of trees. Yeah, not much to it. It looks like there are a few pathways, but apparently no one uses them anymore seeing as how weeds have grown over.

I walk for a while, taking a few turns here and there, looking at the pretty flowers. I go to cross a path, but my foot catches on a large tree root and I trip. Luckily, because of all the grass and stuff, the fall doesn't hurt as much. My head just missed hitting something, which I didn't know was here until now. I lift my head and come face to face with a long rectangular treasure chest. I bring my legs up so I'm able to bring myself into a kneeling position so I can get a better look at the chest. It's huge, and I wasn't kidding when I said it was long. Plus, it's wide. If I wanted to, I could lay down in it! I feel a grin show up on my face. Treasure chests always mean good things…well, unless you meet a Mimic in the Omega Ruins, so I wonder what can be in this large box. My fingers slide along the top of the chest and down the front and find the clasp. Unable to contain myself, I hum the little tune that plays when you open a chest in _Legend of Zelda_. Just as I'm about to pick up whatever's inside, hold it over my head, and 'La' the other little tune, my eyes fall upon the most beautiful weapon I have ever seen.

It's a scythe. The handle is long and seems like it's bigger than me, looks like it was made out of clear crystal, and is simple enough until you get to the bottom…or tip…or whatever you call it. It resembles a sword, short, but it has the details of the handle and a small hilt, and then the tip is silver and resembled in a sword shape. Weird…but then something else catches my eye. The top is a red rose. It's in bloom, and it's a bright red. There are leaves on the bottom that cascade down. Underneath the rose and leaves is a small crown, gold with a reddish tint that is tilted to the side so it's resting on the long blade. In each of the five points of the crown there is a large jewel (I should've mentioned it's like your stereotypical crown like the cardboard ones from Burger King give out, but you get the point). The colors of them are a red and orange mixture, light blue, cerulean, a bright yellow, and the last one is jet black. Huh…red and orange probably equal fire, the light blue equals ice, cerulean is water, and the yellow one is thunder! Yay me, I think! I don't know why the other one is black, but who cares, it's gorgeous! The blade is simple and long, and along the top curled in loops around itself is a design of a green vine with thorns, like the stem of a rose, carved and dyed into the metal. You know, it kinda reminds me of something I read in my favorite book series, _Dragonlance_. The Knights of Solamnia have three symbols representing their order: The Rose, The Crown, and The Sword. When they're combined into the official symbol or whatever it's called the Triumvirate. Perfect. That's what I'm calling this scythe. The Triumvirate. Perfect.

I've never held a real weapon in my life…well, okay, I lied, but never one that was sharpened and could actually kill someone. I gently wrap my fingers around the handle of the scythe and pull it out, praying that I won't have another klutz moment and chop my arm off or something! I stand up, using the scythe as like a leverage, y'know, I stick it in the ground and push myself up…I guess you could kinda compare it to like a stripper move, but that's beside the point! I was right in saying that it's bigger than me, but not by much. The only thing I'm thinking of is whether or not I can figure out how to use this thing.

And that's when I hear a growl. It's low, like a dog, or a wolf, and it sounds like it's right behind me. Slowly, I turn myself around to see one of those wolf fiends I thought Wakka and I'd have run into earlier…what's their name again…oh yeah, Dingo! It's bigger than my dog back home, that's for sure. Its ears are back and its bearing teeth. I've never come face to face with a dangerous animal like this, and that's certainly no lie! The Dingo suddenly lowers its front half to the ground, and through the grass I can just make out it flexing its claws. With another growl, the Dingo pushes itself off the ground, making a mighty leap towards me. I squeal and hold the scythe in front of me…

...and act all on instinct. As the Dingo nears, I bring the scythe up and wait until it's almost in front of me and then bring the scythe down on its back. I make contact and the Dingo smashes into the ground. The scythe doesn't stick in its back, so I pull it back to me, holding it angled to the ground with the blade pointing towards the sky (much like Zasalamel from _Soul Calibur III_ and _IV_). The Dingo pushes itself back to its feet, shaking its head side to side as if shaking off the injury I gave it. It looks to me, its eyes making contact with mine, and it rushes forward, opening its mighty jaws and readying itself to take a chunk out of my leg. I shuffle backwards…completely forgetting about the chest. I hit the front with the back of my leg and I fall, my ass hitting the bottom of the chest with my legs and top half sticking out. In my klutz moment, I drop the scythe, and it bounces several feet away from the chest. Unfortunately, with my legs sticking out, the wolf has a perfect opportunity to clamp on my leg, which it has no problem taking. The area above my right knee must have looked good to the Dingo because before I know it pain is shooting through my leg and there's the Dingo gnawing away. I shut my eyes tightly in pain and start to panic, cry, scream, doing anything to try and either scare the Dingo away or draw attention to myself so someone comes to save me.

At the moment, neither event happens. I don't hear any movement through the grass, and the Dingo looks like it's not going to stop until it's positive it will leave with my leg. I carefully open one eye, teeth clenched in pain, and stare at the Dingo. In my panic, I raise one of my hands and place it on the fiend's head, trying to shove it away. In my screams for help, I decide to try using what kids and adults are taught to do in tough situations…and not to scream in movie theaters…but I'm not in one so, "FIRE!!" My hand glows and begins to feel hot. I open both eyes just in time to see my hand and the Dingo's head engulfed in flame. It lets go of my leg and starts running away in the direction it came from. However, my hand isn't going out. I squeeze my eyes shut and furiously start shaking my hand, trying to see if I can put it out like one would a match. I feel my hand cool down, but I hear something crackling…like it's on fire?! My eyes fly open and I notice that apparently when I was flicking my hand I set the whole freakin' area on fire! The flames are spreading up a tree and the sparks start catching other trees on fire. I grab the sides of the chest and try pushing myself out, but despite the fact that it's wide, the position I'm in was perfect for getting my ass stuck! I keep screaming, hoping someone will see the flames.

And just in time (well, they still took their good ol' time getting here), I see several balls of water hit the trees, putting the flames out. I look up and see Lulu standing near the path I took. She's panting and she looks really pissed at me. I wince and look away. Wow, now I really screwed things up. Huh, I feel a weird pain in my leg…oh wait, now I remember, I got chewed up by a freakin' fiend!! I wonder… I place my hand on the wound and concentrate on healing it. This time my hand glows white and sparks fall off my hand and seep into the wound, stopping the bleeding and slowly closing it up. Lulu's watching me in amazement as I heal my leg up enough to walk. When I'm finished healing, my hand goes back to normal. My head flops backwards in relief, and I hit my head on the lid of the chest and let out a small 'ow.' Lulu walks over to me, eyes wide in shock. "What the hell happened?"

"Uh…well, I went exploring after I woke up…" I start to say, then stop and look up at Lulu, stretching my arms out towards her. "Uh, Lu? Do y'think you can help pull my ass out of this freaking chest first?" She nods and grabs onto my outstretched hands. After a couple of tugs from Lulu she manages to pull me out of the chest. In the process, she pulls too hard and falls backwards, pulling me down with her, and my head lands on her boo…er, chest. I go to move before someone sees us, but I'm already too late. Wakka and Kimarhi, huh, I wonder where he's been, barge into the clearing, weapons at the ready. Wakka stares, dropping his blitzball. I can't tell if it's because it's a shocking scene, or if that male mind is wandering off to X-rated thoughts…I hope he's just stupid. Kimarhi does nothing. He stands there for a few seconds and then turns and walks away. I lift my head off of Lulu and push myself off to a standing position.

"So, uh…" Wakka stammers. Lulu gets up and glares at Wakka. "Did I miss anything?" he finally finishes. I blush, shaking my head. Awkward…

"No, Wakka," Lulu speaks, her voice a little low. I'm not sure if it's anger or what… She turns her head to the side and gestures at me. "When I got here Steph had already taken care of the fiend we heard…but I think she was the one who set the forest on fire."

"Wow, Steph, y'mean like ya used magic?" Wakka seems to have a proud grin on his face. It's probably because I proved myself wrong that I probably had no way to fight fiends. "I mean, setting the forest on fire's bad, but-"

"It's just this area I accidently set on fire," I interrupt, taking a few steps towards Wakka when I realize my leg was still in pain, despite the fact that I healed it. I look at Wakka. "Hey, uh…do you think you can look around the chest over there and find my scythe? I dropped it when I got my ass stuck in the chest, haha…" I trail off. Now both Lulu and Wakka look confused.

"Do you mean to tell me…" Lulu begins as Wakka goes over to look for my scythe, "that you know black magic, white magic, _and_ can fight with a weapon?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, she knows white magic, too?" Wakka asks as he picks my scythe off the ground, staring at it intently. "Wow, this is pretty, ya?"

"Yes, Wakka. I watched her patch up that wound on her leg." She walks over to me and kneels, probing the wound on my leg with her fingers. "We should get the Temple or Yuna to look at this."

"I didn't do a good job, did I?" I whisper meekly. Lulu smile and shakes her head.

"Considering you have three different skills accessible to you, you have a lot to learn." She rises to her feet and takes the scythe from Wakka and hands it to me. I mutter my thanks and use it as a walking stick (That's one of the reasons I asked Wakka to get it). "All mages, if that's what you are I guess, are weak when they first start off. Some training will do you good."

"Wait a minute!" I mumble as we start heading towards the village. "I think I know what I am!" Lulu and Wakka look at me expectantly. "I know black magic and white magic right off the bat, right?" They nod, already wondering where I'm going with that apparently obvious statement. "And I can fight, well, was given a weapon to fight with, but I can still do all three things. Now, even though I'll be fighting with this scythe instead of a sword," I smile and give The Triumvirate a little pat, "it's still a weapon, which can only mean one thing!" They're both still looking at me, waiting. I punch a fist proudly in the air. "I'm a Red Mage!"

"Never heard of them, ya?" Wakka shrugs. "But you obviously know better than we do, so cool."

"And all of these 'Red Mages' fight like that?" Lulu asks. "But you said with swords rather than scythes?"

"Well, considering everything I've seen, the stereotypical image of a Red Mage has a sword…" and I trail off thinking. Hmmm… I'm wearing a shade of red and black, so what's missing? I suddenly snap my fingers, somehow letting go of the scythe in the process, and I topple forward. Sadly, this time I fall on the dirt pathway and not nice soft grass and weeds. Wakka hastily helps me up and I laugh. "Sorry, I'm kinda a klutz," I blush.

"Well, as long as you're okay…" he says. I nod. "So, what did ya snap your fingers for?"

"Well, I said stuff about the stereotypical Red Mage and I realized something's missing!" I say. Lulu and Wakka just look at me. "I'm missing a red hat with a white feather!"

"I'm not sure where you can get one, but we can figure it out," Lulu says with a smile and begins leading me towards the Temple. I stay firmly where I am, so Lulu ends up pushing me a few inches. "What's wrong?"

"Uh, if it's cool, I really don't want to go back in there for a few days…" I slowly lower my eyes. Lulu just smiles and nods in understanding.

"It's understandable, Steph. We'll just go see Yuna," she says, changing direction and leading me towards a tent I hadn't really noticed until now. Wakka's following us not too far behind.

We get to the tent and Lulu goes inside first so she can help me maneuver my scythe into the tent and also so she can help me sit down. Kimarhi is sitting inside, arms crossed. He doesn't even seem to care about anything. He doesn't even move to help me. Yuna, apparently hearing people in her house, comes running into like…the living room area, I guess one would call it. I think her tent is a bit different than some of the other tents, but, yeah, that's beside the point. She gives me a confused look but her eyes travel to the wound on my leg. "Oh my!" she gasps and sits down in the chair next to me after I sit down in a different one. "Steph, what happened?"

"I would like to know all of the details as well," Lulu says. She remains standing, taking up a spot near the entrance. Wakka stands inside opposite of her. I laugh lightly.

"Well, y'see, I woke up early, big shock for me 'cause if I had a choice I'd sleep in 'til noon or later, but since I went to sleep…early…" I stop, blushing. I just keep on rambling to them, but apparently they don't mind so far. "Anyways, I decided to go exploring behind the Crusader's Lodge, and I found this huge treasure chest that contained this scythe!" I gesture to it proudly. Yuna gives it an odd look, but nods, indicating that I should continue. "After I pulled it out, a Dingo attacked me! I hit it with the scythe, but it really didn't do anything, and I took a step back, fell into the chest, and got my ass stuck! Literally," I finish with a giggle.

"Then when did you use Fire?" Lulu asks.

"You used Fire? So, you're a black mage, like Lulu!" Yuna says, probing my wound.

"Not quite," I grin. "So, the Dingo decides to chomp onto my leg, and I panic, so to get someone's attention, I decided to scream what people are taught to scream in certain situations and not to scream in movie theaters…I'll tell you what those are later," I add after seeing their confused looks. "The whole time I'm trying to push the Dingo's head off, so when I screamed 'Fire!' my hand literally caught on fire…and so did the Dingo's head."

"Did ya get it?" Wakka asks. He's moved closer during my story, obviously interested.

"Nah, he ran away. So, I tried shaking my hand to put the fire out because it didn't go off right afterwards, but I sorta set the area on fire…"

"And that's when Lulu saw the smoke and started running!" Yuna says, finally understanding where the fire came from.

"Mmhmm! She saved my ass from burning!" I exclaim, with a smile towards Lulu. She smiles back. "Thanks again."

"But how did you heal your leg?" Yuna asks, her hand resting on my wound and beginning the same process mine had earlier, only the white emanating from her hand is brighter than mine. This time the wound disappears completely and she draws her hand back. "There! It's all healed."

"Thanks, Yuna!" I squeal and give her a huge hug. "Anyways, back to your question. Basically, I did what you did, only not as well." She gives me a look of disbelief, but Lulu takes a step forward.

"It's true, Yuna," she says. "She calls herself a Red Mage. Apparently they are able to wield weapons and cast both black and white magic."

"A Red Mage…" Yuna says quietly, pondering over the name and tapping her index finger on her lips. "I think I've heard of one…"

"You have?" I ask, confused. "I'm pretty sure there are no Red Mages here…at least, not until two years, and that's only sorta…well, there is the Sphere Grid…"

"The what?" I blink. Oh sure, they hear _that_.

"You'll learn about that a bit later, but anyway, back to your hearing about a Red Mage…" Yuna blinks, suddenly remembering what she said before.

"Oh, yes, that," she blushes and laughs lightly, obviously embarrassed that she almost forgot. "I read about her during my studies to become a Summoner." Huh, so they do read stuff. Well, I guess studying to become one is a lot like school, which makes sense.

"Her?" I repeat. Yuna nods.

"She was a powerful warrior in the Machina War one-thousand years ago…" Cool, I get to follow in the footsteps of a powerful warrior! I'll do the name justice!...hah hah, yeah right. "She aided the Summoners in battle against Bevelle. She was certainly a powerful ally. When Sin was born it had obviously seen that as well and 'took care of her.'"

"'Took care of her' how?" Lulu asks. I lean closer to Yuna, very interested. She shakes her head.

"That's all the book said, other than give a brief description of her and her name."

"And?" I ask anxiously.

"Well, they say she fought with many different weapons: machina guns, swords, I believe a scythe once," she says with a nod to my new weapon. My heart starts beating rapidly. A Red Mage…ally to the Summoners… Before Yuna goes on, I intervene with one question…

"Yuna…she didn't happen to be a Summoner herself, did she?" Yuna closes her eyes, thinking over what she read. After a few seconds, she opens her eyes and nods. No fucking way…

"Back to her description," Yuna continues. "She's depicted to favor the colors black, red, magenta, and gold," this is way too freaky, "and she was very tall and had black hair and gold eyes." I swallow loudly, waiting for the name. "In the book, they say her name was Setsuna Klo."

I literally fall backwards off the chair, taking it with me of course. All four of them, Kimarhi's paying attention now, are looking at me with worried looks on their faces. I grin sheepishly and push myself to my feet and set the chair upright.

"What's wrong? Are ya hurt more than ya said ya were?" Wakka asks, reaching out and putting his hands on my shoulders to keep me steady in case I decide to fall again. I swallow again and shake my head.

"N-no…" I stammer. "T-that Red Mage…Setsuna Klo…she sounds almost like my original character…almost in every single way save for a few differences…"

"Even the name?"

"Yes… Even the name…" Yuna, Wakka, and Lulu look astonished…and confused.

"What's an 'original character?'" Lulu asks. Hah, she really is the smart one since she decided to ask me that.

"An original character is like…a fictional character, like in a story," I start to explain, sitting back down and place my hand over my still rapidly beating heart. "I created a character named Setsuna, maiden name Klo, about…oh man, nine years ago, and I still write about her today."

"Wow, you're an author!" Yuna says with joy. I laugh and shake my head.

"Not exactly. I write fanfics, and before you ask, let me explain," I giggle. "They're stories that people write based on a game or a book that sometimes follows the story completely, or they add in their own twist and/or character. Setsuna is my original character for here." Yuna still looks impressed. Huh, wow, I feel sorta proud.

"I wonder if there's a reason why your character resembles someone from Spira's past," Lulu ponders. I shrug, too full of pride and confidence to care at the moment.

"Well, we can figure that out later, ya?" Wakka says, getting back into the conversation. "I gotta get to practice."

"Yes, and I believe Yuna and I have some training to give this young mage," Lulu says with a smile. I smile back and nod.

"Hell, I'm gonna need all the training I can get!" I laugh, throwing my arms in the air. "Give me everything ya got!"

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**Setsuna:** I can't believe you!

**Author: **What did I do?! And how did you get back here?

**Setsuna: **Well, to answer your second question, you only kicked me out of the opening note, not the ending one, and for your first question… **Points to story** DUH!

**Author: **Shut up, Set. I came up with the idea in class and I liked it so I stuck with it. Now get outta here. Technically I only wanted you here for opening notes.

**Setsuna: **Fine. I can see I'm not wanted. **Leaves.**

**Author: **No shit. Anyways, once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you see any mistakes feel free to let me know, but do it nicely. I want to thank all of you who have reviewed so far again, and thank you so much for your kind criticism/ideas (you know who you are, lols)! As I said in the opening, for those of you who read this can thank my Bio 101 class. The first four weeks I fell asleep in class, but ever since I started writing in class I stay awake and sorta pay attention! (As I said before, I'm an English major, Bio's boring to me!)

I've already started work on the next chapter but it might take a while for it to get up. I technically should have had this up earlier, but I got caught up in school things. Like, I wanted to have it up last week after I finished it but I had a midterm to study for and at this point while I'm typing this up (I write in a spiral notebook in class and then type it up later) I have like two things to do, a one page paper and a power-point presentation, but I really wanted to get this up so the working on the third chapter would be justified. And then last Thursday I participated in college tradition and jumped into a freezing cold Lake (it's actually a pond, I don't know why it's called a 'Lake,' haha). Kudos to anyone who can guess from this what college I go to haha. There's only one rule: **Azure Coatl ****you are not allowed to say anything.** (lols, he and I have been friends for 5 years and he knows where I go, so if he says anything it's cheating.)

So, in other words, this chapter was delayed because of college shit. Er, also, I was distracted by _Dragon Age: Origins_, haha. I bought it about a week ago and can't put it down. Seriously. It's so bad I'm going to be writing a fanfic on it probably, haha!! Anyways, haha, I apologize for the delay. Don'tcha love college? and gaming? ^_^ Oh, and lols, I wrote a lot in this note, sorry!

**I apparently like breaking the Fourth Wall, I think, haha!**

**Also, check me out on YouTube under SetDarkAngel. I made a little movie/music video trailer thingy to go along with this story. It's not much, but I like what I came up with, so if you want to treat it like a trailer feel free to look at it and tell me what ya think or whatever.**

**Sorry, I just keep typing, haha!**


	3. Training and A Disturbance

**Author: **Oh man, I am soooo sorry it's been forever! I swear I didn't forget this!

**Setsuna:** She lies…

**Author: **I do not! After I finished the last chapter I had finals and going back home for break, getting my laptop fixed…and then I came back here to college and I've actually been paying attention in my classes!

**Setsuna: ****Gasp!** Really?!

**Author: **Believe it or not, Communication Theory is actually interesting… And believe this or not! I'm not too keen on my English class this quarter…

**Setsuna:** That's why you haven't done the blog yet, right?

**Author:** Yeah, pretty much… I'll give a more detailed report about my absence in the Ending Note. ^_^

**This story is rated T for Teen by the SSS Corp. (Setsuna Says So) for excessive swearing by yours truly, and some violence. Basically, everything it says on the back of the **_**Final Fantasy X**_** box with Excessive Swearing.**

**(Also, I do not own **_**Final Fantasy X**_**, the story, or the characters. I **_**would**_** however, like to own Auron and/or Tidus if I could, but if I had to pick just one it would totally be Auron ^_~)**

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Before we head outside for training, I take the time to wash my face off. I just realized I never cleaned all that smeared make-up off! Plus, the cool water certainly calms me down after today's events so far. When I suggest heading out, Yuna and Lulu bombard me with questions about how I feel. I simply smile and shrug them off. It still takes them a while before they determine I am well enough. When they are finally satisfied, they lead me out of Yuna's tent. Wakka leaves the same time we do to gather his team for practice. Kimarhi, silent as ever, agrees to come with us girls. I think it's so he can train me with the scythe. We decide to head out the entrance of the village and train out there, not too far away from there but enough to possibly train on fiends, like another Dingo. When we reach our destination, I turn to Yuna.

"Are you sure you should be helping?" She looks at me, confused. "I mean, you guys need to head into the Cloister so you can become a Summoner."

"This should also give me a chance to strengthen myself and my abilities for the coming trial," she replies. I cross my arms and ponder for a moment then nod.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I never thought about it that way…" While we're talking, Lulu has found a few logs that she directs Kimarhi to set up, probably for target practice.

"Training you will help the two of us as well," Lulu says. Kimarhi nods in agreement.

"Good, glad to help. 'Least I'm not completely useless, haha."

Lulu stands behind four of the logs that Kimarhi set up. "I want you to try hitting each of these logs with each of the elements." I nod and stand a good distance away from the logs, keeping them all in my vision. "Oh, before I forget," Lulu adds. "_Concentrate._ We don't need you setting this area on fire, too." I feel my face grow hot in embarrassment, but I nod nonetheless.

I close my eyes, thinking of how a mage would conjure up the spell within my body. I do everything in my power to relax, concentrating on a core of fire…or something smaller, but whatever I get works for me. I feel a small, warm core in the pit of my stomach. I feel my eyes close tighter as I concentrate. Slowly, I try to move that warm core throughout my body and am met with success. I feel my blood boil as it reaches my legs, then shoots up to my fingertips. At that point, I quickly open my eyes and fling my arms forward, all ten fingers pointing towards the first log. My fingers catch fire and ten small balls of fire fly from my fingertips and make contact with the log, causing it to burst into flames. After the release, I will the fire to go away. My fingertips are no longer on fire and I feel the core disappear. I drop my arms to my sides as I admire my work. Lulu casts her water spell and puts the log out. She looks very proud; hell, _I_ feel proud!

"Very good," she smiles at me. "You've learned to harness Fire, that's for sure. Although I must admit that I've never seen it cast like that, but that must be the Red Mage in you." I blush and scratch the back of my head. "We'll work on you being able to call upon it faster later. Next, try Blizzard. It is important for you to be able to control casting from one opposite to the next." I nod in response. It makes total sense.

I close my eyes again, pushing all though of the warm core I felt earlier, trying to bring forth an ice-cold core. My body was still a bit warm from casting Fire, but gradually I begin to feel chill. This time, I feel it rise from my toes, constricting my stomach and flowing to the palms of my hands. My eyes fly open and I unleash a chilling blast from my palms, but I'm too cold and feeling over-confident so I forgot to move my hands away from my body. Since my palms were facing me, I accidently cast the spell on myself! The mist from the blast encircles me, causing frost to form on my arms and legs, chilling me to the bone. I wrap my arms around myself, teeth clattering and shivering. Yuna runs over to me, quickly casting NulFrost. I feel myself warm, but the damage I inflicted on myself is still present. My eyes are heavy and I feel fatigued…also, I think my legs are in pain, but those are still pretty numb to really tell. Lulu shakes her head and comes over to me and Yuna.

"Well, it was a good casting, and a good way to damage…yourself, but you weren't thinking clearly," she says to me. Her tone is like that of a teacher scolding her pupil…which I basically am. I look down; I feel really stupid. Yuna places her hand on my shoulder.

"It was really good, I agree," Yuna replies. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"Yeah," I chuckle. "I guess you're right. And being the klutz I am, I'm surprised I didn't see that coming!" I crack a smile. Yuna grins.

"Considering what you've done to yourself, I can believe and trust that you at least know how to summon up the different elements at least for the time being, I believe we should end training for today, Steph," Lulu says. I nod, rubbing my arms to get warm.

"I agree, I want a blanket, hahaha…" I'm either a really powerful mage or unknowing in duration of spells for me to still be cold. Oh well. Yuna smiles.

"We'll make sure to set you up before we head to the Temple," she says as she begins to lead me back to the village.

"Wait, Yuna, are you sure you should go in today?" Lulu asks, her voice full of concern. She and Kimarhi begin following us. Yuna thinks for a minute then nods.

"Well, remember that I planned on doing so yesterday."

"Sorry," I cut in. "I caused quite a mess yesterday…"

"It's all right, no harm no foul." We head walk over to the Crusader's Lodge and stand outside to finish our conversation. "But, yes, I believe it is time I go in."

"Well…does Wakka know you've decided?" Lulu asks, casting glances towards Kimarhi, who only crosses his arms across his chest.

"Well, no actually," she looks down. "But, I don't think there's time to go tell him. Plus, he already has so much going on with the Blitzball Tournament coming up…" I think for a second, the chill finally subsiding.

"I can go tell him," I suggest. All three look at me. I only shrug. "I'm damn sure there's no way you'd let me go with you guys, and besides, it gives me a chance to learn more about blitzball." They all look concerned.

"You do not have proper training. Fiends may know. Kimarhi not sure this is a good idea." I stare. It takes _forever_ for Kimarhi to speak to Tidus, and for me it takes about a day! Whoo hoo, go me. I blink suddenly, realizing someone's talking to me.

"Uh, I'm sorry, wha'?" I grin stupidly. I see Lulu shake her head slightly.

"I said, do you think you could handle it without one of us with you?" she asks me a bit sternly; probably pissed I didn't hear her the first time.

"Yeah, I mean, come on! I set that Dingo's head on fire! I highly doubt any of them will want to deal with me now!" I exclaim, hands on my hips and sticking my chest out. "Haha, I must look like a complete douchebag, huh? Oh, you guys probably have no idea what that means, huh, never mind." They shrug.

"I trust you'll be fine, Steph," Yuna sticks up for me. "You have a vast knowledge of here, far more than anyone can give you credit for, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Yuna!" I squeal. "See, someone believes in me," I smile, letting them know I was only joking.

"Well…all right, if you're sure you'll be okay…" Lulu agrees finally. Kimarhi shakes his head and uncrosses his arms.

"Kimarhi still says this is bad idea. Kimarhi hopes for the young mage's safety."

"Awwww, thanks, Kimarhi! That means a lot coming from you!" I can't help myself. I fling my arms around the Ronso and give him a hug. "Hehe, it's like hugging a big kitty stuffed animal," I laugh, rubbing my cheek on his blue fur. When I glance up, I can see Kimarhi looks a little out of place. I let go, blushing. "Oops…sorry. I kinda lost it there." Kimarhi smiles…well…it's not like the smile he gives Tidus after Mi'ihen, but it's obviously a smile, and pats my head before turning away and heading towards the Temple.

"Good luck," Lulu says before following the blue Ronso. Yuna smiles and gives me a slight bow before following her Guardians. I bow to their backs before realizing I left my scythe outside the village. Good thing I'm heading back that way.

I feel fine enough, so I turn and head back out. I can see my scythe propped up against a tree. I walk over, grab it, and continue on my way. Huh, Besaid is really pretty. I wonder if this is kinda what Hawaii's like. If so, no wonder my parents want to go back there! I'm also thankful for there not being very enemies here on this island!

Spoke too soon. I hear something that sounds like…hmmm…how to describe this? like Jell-O © falling out of a bowl…wow, that's a lame metaphor…simile…is that even one? And _I'm_ the English major? Whatever, I'm kinda freaking out, I can't think straight, SHUT UP! Er, anyways…there's only one thing it can be, and that's a Water Flan. Oh shit, I didn't practice Thunder…! The Jell-O © sounds like it's coming from my right. Standing my ground, I turn my head to look.

_Mother fucker…_

There are like twenty Flans coming out from behind trees, bushes, and out of cracks in rocks! How…where…is this all the Flans on this island?! I haven't done anything to them! They certainly don't care about that. They're swarming towards me, with that big ugly smile on each of their faces. Like Muk or Grimer from Pokémon…essh.

Where have my legs gone? Oh yeah, they're right here, stupid, start running! I take off, but, as my klutz habits would have it…I run into a tall rock. Oh, the prayer statue thing. No time for it now. I turn towards the Flans, my back against the statue. They're pretty close now. Who would've thought they moved so fast? Certainly not me. I take my scythe and hold it out in front of me, swinging it in a wide arc and then back, trying to keep them from coming closer. It doesn't stop them; they just keep coming! Those who get hit by the scythe jiggle and then seem to pop right back into place. A few Flans manage to flatten themselves and slide along the ground under my scythe and then reform right in front of me. One of them reaches its stubby jiggly arms out and grabs my leg. I scream…what? I'm panicking! I shake the leg the Flan is attached to, kicking it around, pushing some of the other Flans back. They're getting closer… A few in the back appear to bounce a bit, and I can see what looks like water swarming around them. I close my eyes, still trying to get rid of the Flan attached to my leg. I don't want to see any spells coming at me, I know they're coming.

Suddenly my body feels tingly, like when I touched a power surge strip thing after I spilled pop on it**. The jolt starts in my toes and seems to bounce through my body. The jolt finally stops and I feel the electricity-like feeling lying dormant in my arms. Hehe, it feels cool. Okay, no time for kid-like thoughts or whatever now. I open my eyes just in time to see one of the Flans in the back cast the Water spell. I brace myself as I see the small wave fly through the air and it seems like it's in slow motion as it gets closer and then hits me, the water crashing into my stomach and forcing me back into the statue. I feel something digging into my back and all I want to do is double over in pain and go to sleep. Oh shit…the tingle in my arms went away! And that Flan on my leg has started to climb up! Oh shit, I am screwed!

Wait…why is the scythe yellow? The crystal-like handle looks like one of those cool electric-ball-things you can buy at that store Spencer's. Where my hands are resting the yellow "electricity" is hanging around. Despite the situation I'm in, this is soooo cool! I wonder if something like this will happen with each sp-OW! Shit! That Flan just bit me! Wait, how did its toothless mou-OW! Damnit, stop it! I take a chance and swing my scythe in a wide arc again, making contact with a row of Flans. As the scythe hits the first Flan in the row, the sound of electricity crackles and flows from the handle of the scythe, and weaves around the blade, so when the blade strikes and cuts through, the electricity is forced to flow through the Flan, destroying it. Ohohoh, kick ass!

The group of Flans take a…sweep? back. The Flan on my leg looks up at me with a horrified look on its face. Sliding the handle through my hands so they're closer to the blade, I smile, probably rather evilly, and then proceed to jab the blade into the Flan's head, and then yank the blade out to the right, ripping its head open. It bursts into a bunch of Pyreflies that circle around me before drifting off.

I feel empowered. I take a step towards the Flans and return my hands to where they were before on the handle. I give a fake start to a swing to scare the Flans as they continue moving backwards. I laugh lightly, and I think I hear the twinge of a "mwahaha" in there. The Flans are backing up faster now…

and the crackling stops. I look to the handle of the scythe and notice the electricity in there is completely gone, as is the tingle in my body. My triumph falters. I try not to show it, but I guess Fiends can sense that sort of thing. They all give that grin again, looking back and forth at each other. I'm not going to give them a chance.

I grasp the scythe, turn, and book it, running as fast as my legs can carry me. I don't even need to look over my shoulder to see if they're following me; I can hear them. Those squishy bodies make a lot of noise. I run along the paths that lead to the beach and over the wooden bridges. They just won't let up!

Suddenly, I hear them stop. I slow to a jog, breathing heavily, but I don't stop. I hear screeching and the Flans start moving again, but it sounds like they're retreating. I take the risk and look over my shoulder and stop running as I take in the scene. A Garuda, those bird-like things that look like Zu's from Bikanel but aren't black, is on the ground and running after the Flans. I laugh lightly so I don't alert the Garuda to my presence.

When they're gone from my sight, I take a chance to lean my back on the cliff wall and catch my breath. I am really damn lucky that Garuda happened to come along. Kimarhi was right…I shouldn't have gone off on my own…but still, whatever happened with the Thunder spell was cool! Aw shit…I forgot, I'm pretty banged up, but I feel too tired to even attempt to heal myself. Maybe my MP ran out or something…either that or all my spell casting earlier and getting hurt drained me. Thank God I'm almost to the beach… Wait, how the hell did I run so well with this scythe? Oh well, best not question my "ability."

I finish walking down the paths and make it to the beach. Wakka and the rest of the Aurochs are attempting to bounce the blitzballs off their heads and all that soccer-like stuffs. Wakka's the best out of all of them by far. I walk up to them, dragging my scythe behind me, blade down, creating a line in the dirt and sand. They gasp as they notice I'm bleeding and look heavily fatigued. Wakka runs over, alarmed.

"Steph, what the hell?" he questions, grabbing my shoulders and turning me around so he can inspect me. "And you're by yourself? I though Yuna and Lulu were going to train you today?!"

"Don't worry, Wakka, It's okay," I slur, breathing a bit heavy.

"I don't think it's okay!" he says sternly. "You're bleeding and ya look like you're about to pass out!"

My eyes do feel very heavy. I'm pretty sure I nodded at that last statement, but it's fuzzy. I feel my fingers slip and watch in slow motion as my scythe falls from my hand to rest in the sand next to me. My leg is killing me… Wakka's eyes go wide as I suddenly fall onto the sand into a sitting position. He kneels next to me, grabbing my chin with his hand and studying my eyes closely. I see him breathe a small sigh of relief as he releases his chin. Wait, what's with the sigh?! Is something wrong with me? Wakka starts to stand and turn away from me, but I stop him, grabbing his leg with my hands rather weakly.

"Wait…" I say softly. "What's wrong…with me? What was with…the sigh?" He smiles and gently removes my hands.

"Besides being hurt, nothing's wrong with you," he pats my head. "Your magic's just run out." I blink several times, taking it all in. Oooohhh, yeah, I guess that would make sense. Wakka turns away again and walks towards a bag near the rocky cliff side. I never thought running out of MP would feel so…tiring. I want to sleep…just lie down and sleep for a really long time…

Wakka grabs two glass flasks from the bag and walks back over. He hands me one filled with a bluish-green liquid. I reach out, my arm shaking, and accept it. With great effort, I pull the cork out and blue smoke comes out of the top along with a strange smell. It's like…fruity, but mixed with lavender and grass. My nose wrinkles slightly as I imagine what it's going to taste like. I look to Wakka who reassures me with a nod. With a deep breath I put the opening to me lips and chug. My eyebrows knit with disgust as the liquid runs down my throat. It tastes more like grass and dirt than fruit, and the liquid causes my throat to burn. When the last of the liquid runs down my throat, I rip the flask away and cough, holding my other hand to my throat in pain. Wakka has an amused look on his face as he watches my reactions.

"Guess Elixir's taste as bad as Lu and Yuna put them, ya?" he chuckles, taking the empty flask out of my hand and replacing it with the other one. I eye the reddish-brown liquid in front of my evilly.

"If this Potion is blood or something so help me," I grit through my teeth. The sleepiness has gone away substantially and my arms aren't shaking anymore. Out of the corner of my eye I see Wakka shake his head. I sigh heavily and pull the cork out of the flask. There's no smoke like the Elixir, and I don't really smell anything…hopefully, there IS no smell. Gulping, I raise the flask to my lips and tilt it, allowing the liquid to pour down my throat. Thankfully, this doesn't taste as bad as the Elixir…it kind of tastes like…fruit punch, with a hint of grass…herb…stuff…dirt…yeah… This doesn't burn…it's more soothing and cool. When the Potion's gone I put the flask down and swallow deeply. My body feels tingly and my leg grows warm. The skin feels like it's stretching and something's being repaired. I'm a bit of the curious sort, so I look down to my leg where the Flan latched onto me. The wound appears to be bubbling and I can see the skin slowly inching towards each other and the bubbles on my skin seem to melt…is that the right word? the skin together. Suddenly, the bubbles stop and appear to just…evaporate? I look up at Wakka with a smile on my face. "That was awesome! But, is it just me, or do the Potions take forever to work? The Elixir seemed to take seconds while the Potion seemed to take forever!"

"You were watching it," the Blitzer chuckles. "It actually took about…seven seconds." I feel my right eyebrow attempt to raise on its own, but the look Wakka's giving me tells me I probably look really stupid. Luckily, he at least gets the picture. "Different wounds take different amounts of time, ya?"

"Oh…well…" I start. "Yeah, the wound wasn't really that bad, was it? Then why did the Elixir work so fast?" He doesn't answer, just shrugs in response. Oh yeah, that was a stupid question for him, he's not a mage.

"All right, now that you're better, what happened?" Wakka asks, extending a hand to me to pull me to my feet. I accept, gripping his hand and pushing myself up. I laugh lightly as I brush the sand from my outfit. Wakka's giving me this expectant look…

"…what?" He's tapping his foot. The rest of the Aurochs are watching me curiously. "Oh right, the story…" Wakka sighs. "Look, sorry, it's just… That Elixir tasted really shitty, and I'm just…sorta getting my bearings…" I take a deep breath to begin telling my story, but Wakka interrupts, suddenly looking concerned.

"Where's Yuna and the other two?" he says sharply, glancing behind me as if they're going to "pop" out at any moment. "You didn't get separated from them, did you, ya? What happened?"

"Calm down!" I put up a hand to silence the Guardian in front of me. "It's cool, no worries, I think." His eyebrow raises and he crosses his arms across his chest. "Lulu was training me in Black Magic, but I sorta cast a Blizzard spell on myself, so since I was shivering and what not-"

"How did you cast the spell on yourself?" Wakka asks. I blush and giggle.

"I wasn't paying attention to where my hands were, so yeah," I explain, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment. "Anyways, here's the part you need to focus in on: Lulu decided to cut training short, and Yuna, well she…" I sigh gently. "Yuna's gone to the Cloister of Trials." Wakka's eyes appear to bulge out of his head. "Lulu and Kimarhi are with her, it's cool!" I quickly add. He calms down…I think.

"Why did she go without me?" the Blitzer says sadly. Poor Wakka…he must feel left out. I reach up and put my hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"Yuna knows how much this Tournament means to you," I smile. "She wants you to do your best and focus. She also wants you to trust her and the others." I feel kind of proud of myself. Wakka has a smile on his face and what I said seemed to lift his spirit.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, ya?" he pats my shoulder in return. "Glad she's not mad at me for wanting to participate-"

"No," I shake my head. "Not 'participate,' 'win.'" Wakka shrugs. I sigh. Well, guess this whole part is Tidus' department. "Anyway, thanks for patching me up, well, giving em stuff that patched me up."

"Hey, no problem, ya?" he chuckles. I grin, my eye slightly twitching. _Stop saying 'ya,' damnit!_ I think to myself. Argh, that always drives me crazy! It's cool the first couple times he says it, but then it gets on your nerves. I blink suddenly as I realize Wakka's waving a hand in front of my face. "You space out a lot, ya?"

"Oh, sorry…" If I could have a big anime sweatdrop right now, I soooo would. I must look stupid every time I do shit like this. Like, when someone's passing something around in class and you don't realize it until they're practically slapping you in the arm with it…or you're about to do that to someone else. Anyways! "I was sorta thinking about something else… Don't mind me."

"Uh…if you say so," he responds with another shrug. "Well, if that's the case, why don'tcha hang around!" I nod excitedly. I've never personally seen guys bounce balls on their heads and stuff…well, _attempt_ is probably the better word, I've seen _that_ in person before. "Take a seat wherever. If ya want, we can teach ya a few things."

"Hehe, how cool!" I giggle and take a seat in the sand near the pack Wakka got the flasks from. The guys are trying to show off, but they're not very good. Wakka looks like a pro…as much as he can look "pro." I laugh when Wakka ends up missing with the top of his head and the blitzball bonks him on the nose!

Luckily I'm in the shade, so while I'm sitting here I'm not getting sunburned…I hope. About a half an hour of sitting there, I feel something. It's a strange pressure, but not ominous. I hear what sounds like electricity crackling. My eyes widen and I clench my fists. It's a disturbance in the force…er… It's a disturbance in some wall, or dimension, or something. It's not evil, but it's different. Wait, why can I feel this change? Furthermore, what is it linked to? I didn't do it, did I?!

"Hey, what's wrong?" Wakka calls over to me, breaking my concentration. I can still feel it, but it's gone away significantly.

"Nothing, it's cool," I say quickly. "I got uh…sand in my shorts, hah…" He stares at me for a second, shrugs, and then goes back to practice.

What is this feeling? Why can _I_ feel it? Is this linked to that voice that sounded like Bahamut last night when he said "Welcome home?" I have a few theories running through my head:

**Number One:** Someone is pissed. Yeah, it's general, but it works.

**Number Two:** Sin knows I'm here and I'm not supposed to be here. Why Sin would know I have no idea.

**Number Three:** Uhh…Tidus showed up in Spira? I mean, considering Dream Zanarkand is out at sea, I'm sure there's a barrier. He must have just passed through it. Sure…

**Number Four:** I'm actually passed out in my dorm room and since I'm in a tower and on the second to highest floor it sounds like a thunderstorm is right next to me. Yeah, I wish that was the answer…

What could it be? I'm so confused… I shake my head and focus on the Aurochs.

Fifteen minutes later, Wakka gestures for me to come over. I stand up, brushing the sand away again and jog over to him. He shows me some basics of blitzball. We run around on the beach (I thought running on the beach was hard enough, try doing it in heels and being me! I eventually take my boots off and run around in my socks. Ahh, so much easier.) passing the ball to each other. It's basically "tag blitzball" since we don't tackle one another, but it's still fun! I give everyone a good laugh when I attempt to bounce the blitzball off of my head. I throw it up in the air and try to stand under it, but my aim is terrible, so when I threw it up it veered to the left and it ends up landing near the water. My other attempts end with laughter, but it puts everybody in a good mood.

We continue messing around until dusk. After practice we pack up our stuff and trek back to the village. All of us go to Wakka's tent for dinner. I hear various stories from previous tournaments. They ask me to tell some stories from where I'm from, but I'm at a loss of what to tell them. I summarize it to, "It's veeerrryyy different from here." Last thing I need to tell them, especially Wakka, is that we have tons of "machina." I just tell them I'll give more detailed descriptions later. They shrug, but accept my answer.

I listen to a few more stories after I'm done eating and then turn to Wakka. After all that running around, blood, and fighting, I really need to bathe. He tells me where I can go to an all-girl "bathhouse" and I can clean my clothes. I thank him, grab my scythe, and head on over.

The "bathhouse" is on the outskirts of the village, but well within the limits that fiends hardly go near there. It's cute, and it looks more like an actual house, or shack, that the tent homes. There's no door, it's more like a flap, but hey, at least it's closed off! I step inside, placing my scythe in the corner. Someone must have been here recently, or someone comes and attends to it, because there's a small fire in the middle, obviously to heat the water. There's a flap at the back as well, and I can see a small stream. I take a large bucket (it's metal or whatever, it's cool, no wood so it won't burn!) and head out the back and fill it up in the stream. I lug it back inside, placing it over the fire on a hook. Since I need to wait for it to heat up, I take my clothes off and walk over to a small tub where it looks like soap and other stuff is laid out. The tub is already filled with water, so I take some soap and scrub my clothes. When I'm done scrubbing, I rinse them out in the water and hang them on a line close to the fire. I dip my finger into the water over the fire and decide it's warm enough. I remove the bucket and head over to another tub, slightly larger than the clothes washing one, but just enough to sit in, and empty the water into the tub. I spot a small ladle next to the tub and assume I sit in the tub and use the ladle to pour water over my body. Personally, I want a shower, but that's probably considered machina, haha!

I take a while bathing to just give myself a chance to relax. When I'm finished, I see there's a little faucet-thing on the side to drain the water. I turn it and watch as the water empties out of the tub and then shut it closed when the water's finished. I dry myself off with one of the towels on one of the various shelves and then grab my dry clothes and get dressed. I stretch and retrieve my scythe from the corner. I'm kinda sleepy, so I decide to head to the Crusader's Lodge and retire for the night.

It's quiet when I walk inside, just like last night. No one questions me as I head into the back. I choose the same bed I had last night and hide my scythe underneath it. I flop down on the bed and lay on my back. Despite getting into two fights with fiends, casting a spell on myself, and having to drink an Elixir, today was a pretty good day. I lie there until my eyelids close and I drift off to sleep.

* * *

**Somewhere in an Undisclosed Location…**

_ So it's true…she has been released?_

_ Yes, but we're not sure how._

_ I thought she was sent away forever?_

_ She was…Yu Yevon made sure to that._

_ Then how?_

_ Does it matter? She's returned!_

_ But she is nowhere near the strength we need her to be._

_First things first…we must continue to study her…_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Author:** Whoohoo! Finally, my third chapter's finished! I'm really sorry it took forever. I have a lot of other things to worry about, like school, work, getting ideas… You know, that stuff.

**Setsuna:** At least you're paying attention in class this quarter…

**Author:** I know, right! ^_^

**Setsuna:** Although you did take that weekend off and went to Ohayocon…

**Author:** Hey, I deserved a break! And I was looking forward to it for a whole year! Anyways, let's get back to my apology.

As I said, I'm really sorry to those of you who follow this. I had a lot of stuff on my plate and I had writer's block over Christmas break and finals, and midterms, and Statistics is evil and gives homework…and I don't read anything for my English class… Yeah, you heard me right. I'm an English major and I hate my English class. GASP. Whatever.

As always, let me know if there are any errors in this. Uhh… Yeah… _Dragon Age: Origins_ is fun ^_^

**-No worries, I'm cool. That happened _years_ ago and the shock only went up my arm. The electricity I described is going all throughout my body, but you get the drift. Basically what happened was I spilled a can of pop onto a power surge strip and the TV shut off so I panicked and touched it, trying to flip the switch and yeah. I did get the TV working again and my parents didn't know about it until a few weeks later. My arm's cool now, the tingle went away like an hour or two later, haha. Yeah, that's my story ^_^


	4. Awkward Situations

**Author: **Thankfully I think this update isn't _too_ far away from my last one, haha! Sorry guys. Statistics took more out of me than I thought, and then I had finals to deal with.

**Setsuna: **Blah, school.

**Author:** Yeah, haha, but I worked on this as best as I can ^_^ I put this up during my spring break (yeah, I don't do anything exciting, I'm boring :P) I'll admit, this is a bit of a slow chapter, but I mean, it's sorta filler, but it's not…er…well…

**Setsuna:** She did what she could for this part, so don't complain.

**Author: ****Tears** Aww, Set…you…you stood up for me!!

**Setsuna:** Yeah, well, don't expect me to do it again!

**Author:** Deal! Please enjoy! Oh, and hopefully I'll get up another chapter by the beginning of next month!

**Setsuna:** You're giving yourself a deadline?

**Author:** Sorta… Oh uh, small spoiler for _FFX-2_ technically, sorta…

**This story is rated T for Teen by the SSS Corp. (Setsuna Says So) for excessive swearing by yours truly, and some violence. Basically, everything it says on the back of the **_**Final Fantasy X**_** box with Excessive Swearing.**

**(Also, I do not own **_**Final Fantasy X**_**, the story, or the characters. I **_**would**_** however, like to own Auron and/or Tidus if I could, but if I had to pick just one it would totally be Auron ^_~)**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Damn, no dreams. There was nothing out of the ordinary last night. Man, that sorta sucks…

I wake up the next morning with a groan. All that running around yesterday…argh. It's been a while since I've done that. I sit up, yawning…right into the face of a man with orange hair. I blink. "…Wakka?"

"Morning, ya?" he chuckles.

"How…how long have you been here? …Watching me?" my voice quivers as I speak. I really hope this isn't what I think it is…because that's creepy! I wonder if my eye's twitching…

"I just got here," he adjusts his blue headband awkwardly. "I figured I'd wake ya up and invite ya to have breakfast with me and the team." Awwwwww, sweet!

"Aww, Wakka, that is sooo sweet of you!" I squeal. He…blushes?! I think I put him in an awkward situation. Huh, who would've thought I'd do something like that to anybody? Wakka clears his throat and walks away from the bed.

"I'll just uh…wait outside for ya," he stammers and suddenly ducks through the curtains separating the beds from the front. Is he…did I make him…flustered?! He isn't getting a crush on me, is he? I'm really bad at figuring that stuff out 90% of the time…

With a shrug, I hop off the bed and grab my scythe from under it. It's mine, I'm not leaving it alone! Precious…haha! no, I kid. I walk up to the front and head outside to join Wakka. He scratches the back of his head when he sees me, gestures for me to follow him, and then just starts walking, not waiting for me at all. Oh man, I hope I'm not giving him the wrong signals or whatever. He's going to end up with Lulu and it's cute! I jog to catch up with him, catching up right in front of his tent. Wakka opens the flap and gestures with his arm for me to go in ahead of him. I comply and head inside.

The Aurochs greet me with a group "Hey!" I wave and bow back and make my way over to a seat they made for me. There's an empty seat next to mine…it's probably for Wakka. I sit down and plates piled with different breakfast foods start getting passed around. I load up a plate with eggs and bacon and when Wakka comes over he pours me a tall glass of milk. We pass the plates with food on them for a while, grabbing seconds, all while listening to Wakka give a pep talk. I sit quietly, nibbling on my bacon and watching Wakka. He is kinda cute, like in a goofy way… I mean, I used to just find him annoying and then he gradually got cool, but now that I'm older…

I think he caught me looking at him. He raises his eyebrow at me, but doesn't falter in his speech. I turn my gaze back to my plate and I can feel my face grow hot. Oh man, now I _know_ I'm sending him the wrong signals! Wakka has to end up with Lulu!

After breakfast, the team heads outside leaving me and Wakka. I offer to help him with the dishes so we spend the next twenty minutes or so cleaning.

"So, tell me a story about where you're from," Wakka speaks up while we're picking up the dirty dishes in the 'living room.'

"Oh, uh," I jump, not ready for that to come so soon after last night. I pass him the plates I was holding so I can remove my sleeves. "W-well, what do you want to know?"

"How about where you live? What's that like?" I try not to sigh in relief. Easy question, easy way to 'bull shit.'

"Like a mini Luca," I respond, grabbing more dishes. "People everywhere, constantly walking or driv – I mean, everywhere…" He caught me.

"'Driv?'" Wakka's eyebrow raises. I laugh and ignore what he questioned and return to taking the dishes to Wakka's kitchen-like area. "No, I'm curious, what's 'driv?'" Argh, he's not going to let up now, is he?

"Fine, you win," I say exasperated. "I was going to say 'driving.'"

"And that means…?"

"Please don't get mad!" I blurt out as I drop some dishes into the water. Okay, that just confused him even more. Before he opens his mouth to question me again, I hold up my hand to silence him. "Back home…in my world…we're sorta…we rely on… In my world we pretty much have to-"

"Spill it out, ya?" he interrupts. I blink.

"Oh, er, sorry," I blush. "Here's the thing… Where I come from we rely heavily on technology." Confused look again, check. I was hoping I could get by just using that word. Nope. I sigh heavily. "Machina is what you would probably refer to it as."

"You're kidding, ya?!" he stammers. "Machina's bad news!"

"It's different where I'm from, Wakka." He just stares at me, mouth hanging open a bit. "See… The machina where I'm from isn't…frowned upon. In fact, if you improve or create your own machina, half of the time you're praised for it!"

"Y-yeah, but-" he starts, but I interrupt him again.

"See why I didn't want to say anything about my world?" I mumble. "It's hard for you to understand because our worlds are not the same." I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up and see Wakka has a look of…understanding on his face.

"Hey, I'm sorry, ya?" he smiles slightly. "I shouldn't have pushed ya when you said 'no' last night to explaining your world." Geez, he's driving me crazy with how sweet he's being! Stop it, man!

"No worries, Wakka," I chuckle. "Hell, if I were you and some strange person saying they're from another world popped up from nowhere, I'd ask the same questions, too."

"I'm still trying to get over the whole machina thing…" he shakes his head.

"Eh…just forget about it and how about we finish cleaning up?" I shrug and grab one of the plates from the water and begin cleaning. Out of the corner of my eye I see Wakka shrug as well and then he gets closer so he can assist in washing the dishes.

We finish washing in silence. I can tell that Wakka's more shaken up about the 'machina' thing than he wants to let on. I feel bad, but he asked for it. After we finish, we leave the dishes out to air dry, grab our things and head outside as I'm putting my sleeves back on. The team is nowhere to be seen, but Wakka tells me he's positive they're at the beach already. Since I have nowhere else to go, I tell Wakka that I want to go down to practice with him. As I tell him, I can see the faintest blush on his cheeks and I hear a pleased tone in his voice. Oh gods, that confirms it: Wakka must have some sort of a crush on me. Oh man, what am I going to do? I think I'm getting a small one on him…

Luckily we get to the beach with no fiend encounters along the way. On the way, I made small talk, asking about the flowers and other stuff. I just don't like complete silence if I can help it; it bugs the hell out of me. As Wakka predicted, the team is already at the beach and practicing. They're happy to see that we arrived in one piece. While they're practicing, I sit in the shade, guarding their packs filled with water skins. I have no problem with being their water girl and cheerleader. I do my best to give them words of encouragement…heh heh, me a cheerleader, but hey, they deserve that and if I can help in any way, damnit I'm going to help!

An hour or so passes…hm, it's probably about 'lunch time,' since Wakka came and got me late in the morning. I'm getting bored. I take my boots and socks off and stand up. It's been a while since I've walked along a beach, so I head over to the water and walk down. The waves roll up and crash into my feet and I jump at the sudden cold, causing the Aurochs to lose track of what they were doing and look over at me. I laugh and tell them to just ignore my stupidity. They go back to practice and I continue my walk. I look down so I can watch my feet when suddenly I hear a 'thunk' to my right. My head snaps up and I look out into the water. I see something jump out of the water and suddenly a blitzball comes flying towards the shore…and in a direct path to my head. It happens in slow motion, ya know? Like, you see it coming, but all you can do is look, go 'huh?' and whatever's flying towards you makes contact with your head. I get knocked off of my feet and I land in the sand. From my right, I hear a loud "Sorry!" and then people rushing over to my left. My head is throbbing…gah, it feels like that time this asshole kid in middle school threw a basketball at my head…except this hurts a lot more.

"Whoa, I didn't mean to hit her!" I hear this voice say. The person is standing over me or something because they're dripping water on me. Ooohhhhh…I know.

"Tidus?" I mutter quietly. I hear several gasps around me.

"How, uh…how do you know my name?" the voice answers. Yep, I knew it.

"It's hard to explain…stop dripping on me," I grumble in response. He shifts. I feel someone carefully pick up my head and place it in their lap. A hand is shielding the light from my eyes.

"Hey, you okay?" Wakka asks and I realize he's the one who moved my head.

"Esh, yeah, I'm cool," I chuckle. "This isn't the first time something like this happened to me…although it was nowhere near as hard as that!"

"I'm really sorry. I admit, I kinda wasn't paying attention," Tidus says.

"Nah, it's cool," I gently pat Wakka's hand and force myself to sit up. "It's not so bad, I just have a pounding headache, but it's not like I've never had one before." I glance up and see Tidus has a look of worry and guilt on his face. Wait…wow… Seeing him in person, like not FMV mode, real guy, in front of me…oh no, my Tidus obsession isn't coming back, is it?! I want to run my hands through that blonde hair and kiss those lips and-whoa! Shit girl, there is something wrong with you! You had that obsession years ago, I mean, you still like him and all, but wow…you're not fourteen anymore.

"Hey? Ya there?" Wakka's hand is suddenly in front of my face and he's snapping his fingers. I blink and look from Tidus to Wakka.

"Oh, um…" I blush and stammer, trying to come up with some excuse and lie about what naughty thoughts I was just having. "I…I…I was thinking about pie." There's only one way to describe the look on everybody's face: o_O I feel my face grow warmer and I hang my head in embarrassment, chuckling quietly. Well, there's one thing I learned today; just because you mention 'pie' doesn't make everything better…it just confuses everybody more.

"Wow, that was some kick!" Wakka exclaims suddenly, slapping Tidus on the back.

"Ah, it was nothing," he laughs, beaming with pride.

"Yeah, I'll say!" I jump in, rubbing my head for effect.

"Sorry about that, I really am. I was just excited to find someone after what I just went through," Tidus explains. Wakka raises an eyebrow.

"What happened to ya? Don't tell me," he starts with a wink in my direction, "ya fell?"

"Fell? Well…" the young Blitzer muses, putting both if his hands behind his head.

"Sorta," I cut in suddenly, pushing myself to my feet.

"Well, not really. I was more…taken away…by Sin." Gasps are heard again as Wakka takes a step forward and clasps Tidus' shoulder.

"And you're alive after something like that? Praise Be to Yevon," he and the team perform the prayer gesture. I feel bad because Tidus looks so confused. He glances at me with a look in his eyes like 'help me.' I step forward and touch Wakka lightly on the arm.

"Hey, he's had a rough morning," I say. "Why don't we just take him to the village? He'll tell you exactly what happened on the way…so let's not take the shortcut through the water, 'kay?" I chuckle. The look Wakka gives me makes me outright laugh.

"Uhh…why not?" Wakka asks carefully, glancing between me and Tidus.

"I can't swim very well, and I'm certainly no blitzball player," I respond, grabbing Wakka's arm with one hand and Tidus' with the other and I start leading them away from the beach. Tidus seems to have no problem with it, but Wakka wiggles free from my grasp.

"Just let me talk to the boys first, ya?" he waves slightly then jogs back over to his team.

"Where am I?" Tidus asks once Wakka's out of earshot. "And who are you that you know my name?" I chew on my bottom lip for a moment or two as I think of an answer.

"Well, one thing's for sure you're not in Zanarkand anymore." Tidus nods. "And sadly…you won't technically be going back."

"Going back where?" Wakka's voice interrupts. He hands me my boots and socks and is carrying our weapons as well. Oh shit, I totally almost forgot my things. I kneel and put my socks and shoes back on after trying to get as much sand off my feet as I can. I stand up and take my scythe from Wakka and notice Tidus has his sword on some kind of holder on his back. You know, there has _got_ to be a better way to carry these around.

"So, Zanarkand really is just a big pile of rubble now, isn't it?" Tidus asks, dejected.

"Why are ya talkin' 'bout Zanarkand?"

"Uh, well…" I start, laughing lightly. "It's um, a funny story…well, not really, I think, er…"

"I'm a blitzball player for the Zanarkand Abes," Tidus cuts in, pride in his voice. Wakka's eyes go wide and he stares at the young man in front of him. I, on the other hand, can think of nothing else besides face palming…which I do, and it causes the two to look at me funny as I 'ow' about how hard I slapped myself in the head.

"Zanarkand was destroyed one-thousand years ago," Wakka says quietly. "Sin's toxin must've got to ya." I shake my head sadly.

"That's what the girl who rescued me said, too," Tidus muses. "So, if you said it…and she said it…it must be true," he hangs his head sadly. Wakka starts to say something, but I jump in.

"I'll uh, explain Zanarkand once we get back to the village, all right?" I give Wakka a look that I hope comes across as 'trust me.' Right now I think he's more interested in staring into my eyes…so I snap my fingers in front of his face.

"Oh, right, ya seem to know what you're talking about," he responds quickly. Gah, I think I see another blush! "Well, let's get going then, ya?" He smiles and starts walking up the path he and I took only a few days beforehand in pretty much the same situation. I give Tidus a small smile and follow. He looks back to the beach for a second before following us.

It's quiet for now. We're walking through the area with the bridges. Suddenly, a gloved hand grabs my arm to stop me from walking – not rough, but enough to tell me to stop. I do so and turn around to face Tidus. "You, uh, didn't answer me back there. How did you know my name?"

"It's really hard to explain, okay?" I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. "I know a lot about you. I know a lot about _here_."

"Well then, you know my name, but I don't think I know yours," he gives me a cocky grin. Oh man, not him, too. Although maybe he thinks I'm just another fan of his to flirt with. I go to answer when Wakka calls to us.

"Steph, move!"

I look past Tidus just in time to see a Dingo running down the path at us. It…has a burnt head. OH…ha ha? I hear a 'whooshing' noise behind me, so I do the only think I can think of: duck. A blitzball rushes over my head and I can hear it make contact with the fiend. It yelps and falls to the ground as the ball boomerangs back to Wakka over my head again. I glance up and see Tidus take his sword off his back and run to the fiend. Damn, he _IS_ fast! The fiend finally gets to its feet when the red sword comes down on its head. As the sword makes contact with the ground, the Dingo bursts into pyreflies and they float away. I can't help but smile.

"Awww, I didn't get to do anything," I joke. Wakka chuckles and walks over to us. Tidus holds his hand out to me to help me up. "Wow, where the hell are you guys in my world?" I ask, grinning as I grab Tidus' hand and he hauls me up. "It seems chivalry isn't dead here!"

"Glad ya listened and didn't get hit by another blitzball!" Wakka laughs as he twirls the ball on his finger.

"You know, I'm surprised I noticed this, but it looked like someone fought that thing already," Tidus says as he returns his sword to his back.

"Really? How so?"

"Its head looked burnt." Wakka turns to me with an eyebrow raised. I blush. "Wait, huh?"

"Oh ho ho!" he chuckles. "A burnt head, ya? I wonder who did that?" he says teasingly.

"I said I had no idea what I was doing, it totally happened on accident!" the words rush out of my mouth as my arm that isn't holding my scythe starts flailing around. The sleeve ends up hitting Wakka in the face. "Ah, sorry, I forgot I'm wearing these things!" With a smirk, the Blitzer grabs my sleeve and tugs it, and ends up pulling me to him. My eyes widen and my mouth opens slightly in a gasp as I gently collide with his chest. I'm stunned…I can't move…what the hell?! Wakka laughs nervously as he realizes exactly what he did and releases my sleeve and takes a step back. Being this close, the red tint to his tan cheeks is easily seen. I can only imagine what _my_ face must look like! He rubs the back of his neck before clearing his throat.

"Anyway, let's uh…get back to the village then, ya?" he stammers and quickly turns away from me and continues walking down the path. I chew on my bottom lip as Tidus gives me another confused look. I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes to mind. Seriously, how am I supposed to explain what just happened? Instead, I wave it off like it was nothing and return to following Wakka back towards the village. I can hear Tidus' footsteps behind me.

"So, I take it your name is Steph then?" he asks, falling into step next to me. I nod, running my fingers through my hair in embarrassment. "Short for anything?"

"Stephanie," I answer simply. "Everyone here's taken to calling me by my nickname, so you're welcome to as well. I won't go into anything, haha." He nods and looks up the path to Wakka. He must be embarrassed, too, since he's walking so far ahead of us.

"Since you really didn't get a chance to answer me earlier, where are we?" Tidus asks again, stretching his arms above his head.

"This is the Isle of Besaid," I wave my arm outwards to emphasize. "A nice, quaint, small island with pretty flowers." He nods and looks at me to continue. "Well, what is there to say, really? This is really the part where Wakka gives you his life story or whatever…"

"Huh?"

"Huh?" I repeat. Oh, I get it, he's confused, haha. Technically this happened in the game, and Tidus needs to give that Blitzer some confidence, so I decide to let Wakka have his moment. "Hey, Wakka!" I call out to him. He stops walking and looks back to the two of us. "Don't ya got something to ask Tidus?" Wakka thinks for a moment and then nods and jogs back to us.

"Wait, how'd ya…" he starts, then shakes his head. "Never mind, ya? I should remember you know a bunch of stuff that we don't." He turns to Tidus. "Got a favor to ask ya!" Tidus grins.

"Let me guess...you want me on your team, right?" he asks, but his tone shows he knows the answer all too well. Wakka nods and we start walking again, but this time as a group.

"A major blitz tournament's coming up. All the teams in Spira'll be there!" Wakka exclaims. "It's so huge, I'm sure someone there will recognize you! Then you can go back to your old team, right?" He turns his head to look over at Tidus, a pleading look on his face. "It'll be fun! What do you say, huh? Come on, come on!" Tidus thinks, looking over at me. He's probably a little upset about Wakka not believing him about playing for the Abes, but I can only nod in reassurance.

"Sure thing," Tidus responds. Wakka punches a fist in the air in excitement.

"Dude! Our team is gonna rock, eh?" he laughs. Tidus shrugs in my direction when Wakka's not looking. I just give him a small smile.

We arrive at the cliff overlooking the village not too long after that conversation. Wakka walks over to the rope railing and Tidus follows him. I hang back near the statue. I've heard Wakka's back-story enough that it got to the point that I would constantly mash the X button to skip the conversation, even though I had to sit and stare at them doing their hand gestures and all that still, but eh. No offense to Wakka or the game developers, but Wakka's back-story is a little…unnecessary. When they finish, Wakka waves over to me and we resume our walk down to the village. As always, Luzzu and Gatta are hanging around the entrance and they wave to Wakka.

"Ah, the one from the sea," Luzzu nods to Tidus. "And the one from…the sky?" he chuckles at his lack of imagination of a name for me. I smile sheepishly and wave slightly.

"Be on guard," Gatta warns us. "There are fiends on the roads today!" Wakka nods to them respectfully and the two Crusaders turn around and leave.

"Really?" I say in a monotone voice. "There are fiends? I think we saw…what, that Dingo, and that was it?" I turn to my companions next to me.

"There are always fiends on this island, ya?" Wakka answers. "You've certainly had your fill of running into them." He shoots me a teasing grin and pokes me in the shoulder. I shake my head, smiling.

"Who were they?" Tidus speaks up. Wakka turns to him.

"Luzzu and Gatta – Crusaders," he says. Tidus scratches his head in confusion.

"Eh? Crews of what?" Wakka sighs gently. I smile and step next to Tidus.

"No worries, Wakka," I chuckle. "I can handle this, too!" He looks between us and nods in agreement.

"Sounds good! Let's head in, ya?"

We walk through then entrance and Wakka wraps an arm around Tidus' shoulders. "This is Besaid Village!" he announces proudly. I giggle as we hear Tidus' stomach grumble. Wakka laughs. "I'll make ya two some lunch in a minute," he turns to me with a smile.

"Wait, huh? Who said I was hungry?" I retort. Wakka removes his arm from Tidus' shoulders and pokes me in the stomach.

"Ya might not've heard it over his stomach, but yours growled, too," he grins. I blush as I feel my stomach rumble this time.

"Oh…yeah, I guess you're right," I giggle. "Sorry for sounding angry or whatever."

"Haha, no problem, ya? Say, how about you teach him the prayer and take him to the Temple?" Wakka suggests, and then realizes something. "Oh, unless you don't think you should head in there yet," he adds. I think for a moment then shake my head.

"Nah, it should be okay," I decide. "It was two days ago, and besides, I'm sure Yuna and Lulu put in some good words for me." Wakka nods.

"Here, give me your weapons," he extends his free hand. I tilt my head in confusion as Tidus is already in the process of removing his from his back.

"You really want to lug that thing around here?" Wakka laughs.

"Good point," I nod and hand my scythe over to him. I'm surprised he's able to carry all those in both hands, especially with the size of my scythe!

"All right then, I'm off to make lunch!" He nods goodbye and heads off towards his tent.

"'Prayer?'" Tidus repeats. "And 'Temple?'"

"The prayer is easy, you know it as the blitzball sign for Victory," I answer and perform it for him. Tidus nods and does it back to me. "As for the Temple…it's hard to explain without heading inside." I begin walking up the stone walkway up to the Temple. When I glance over my shoulder, Tidus is in the process of walking around tents and exploring everything. I stop walking and stand in the large circle up near the Temple, tapping my foot. Has he forgotten we're going somewhere? Seriously. I watch him walk into the village store…at least I _hope_ that tent is the village store. When I play, I sorta just run around and go into everybody's tent until I find the right one. You know, I would love to know who came up with the idea that you can just run into everybody's houses like it was nothing. He comes out of the tent rubbing his chin and thinking. I sigh and stomp up to him. "Tidus!" I screech. He jumps and almost topples over the rope holding the tents down. "Did you forget that I'm taking you to the Temple?"

"Oh, uh, no," he stumbles over his words. "I just… Ah, come on, can you blame me for looking around?" I roll my eyes slightly, and then realize that if I said no, that would technically make me a hypocrite.

"Okay, no, I ran around everywhere my first visit here," I shrug.

"You've been here before?" Tidus asks. Without waiting for me to answer, he starts walking towards the Temple. I shake my head at his lack of waiting and follow him.

"In a sense," I answer. "I've been here about…wow, I've lost count." I chuckle to myself. Huh, for being new here and confused and everything, Tidus isn't questioning me further. Shocker? Maybe.

No more questions are asked on the way to the Temple. Since the doors are large enough, we walk inside at the same time. No one takes notice of us right away, thank goodness. Tidus walks ahead of me and takes a look at each of the four main statues set up near the Chamber steps.

"This place is really different from where I'm from," he says quietly, turning back towards me.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I say and walk up to him. The priest I met two days walk over to us. He gives me an incredulous look but chooses to ignore me and turns his attention to Tidus and his scrutinizing of Braska's statue.

"Ten years have passed since Lord Braska became High Summoner, and finally, we have received a statue for our Temple," the priest repeats the same thing he said to me to Tidus. Tidus, in turn, gives the priest a confused look, and then stares intently at Braska's statue again.

"What's a 'High Summoner?'" he asks that dreadful question. The rest of the people praying gasp and turn in our direction. I hear various whispers start up again about me and now they're starting to add Tidus into the mix. He glances around at the various people whispering about him with a panicked look in his face. Only one thing I can do…

"It's uh, okay, I think!" I interrupt the whispers, holding up my hands for attention and causing the people to quiet down significantly. "He got close to Sin, so he's got the toxin, or whatever!" The priest regards Tidus sadly then takes a small step backwards and performs the prayer. Tidus shoots me a confused look. I shake my head and point to the priest, letting Tidus know that he'll be the one to explain. The priest straightens himself and walks closer to Tidus.

"The Summoners are practitioners of a sacred art, sworn to protect the people of Yevon. Only a chosen few become Summoners, who call forth entities of greater power: the Aeons. The Aeons hear our prayers and come down to us. They are the blessing of Yevon," he finishes his speech and bows to the four statues as do the other people in the Temple. I just nod thank you, gently grab Tidus' arm and lead him outside.

We stop just outside of the Temple doors for a bit. Tidus turns to me. "So, these Summoners…they're some sort of great men we're supposed to respect?" I can't help but chuckle at how that sounds because it's not his original line or whatever. "What? What did I do?" he asks with slight worry in his voice.

"No, no, you didn't do anything at all," I smile. "It's a long story, something you wouldn't understand. And yes, they are great 'men,'" I say, making quotation marks with my hands, something that my parents absolutely hate when I do, but there's some words you can't help but do that to. "'Men' is a word you can use…gah, I don't want to get into it. Let me just say this now; trust me, you'll be surprised when you see your first Summoner." He raises his eyebrow to say something but instead shrugs.

"Yeah, okay, I'll trust ya," he smiles back at me. "So, you wanna tell me how you got here?" I sigh and walk away from the doors as to not obstruct them. Tidus follows me over to the edge of the stone pathway surrounding the Temple. I kneel and then sit down and swing my legs over the edge. Tidus jumps off the edge and stands in front of me.

"It's a really long story, but it's kinda like yours," I start. I push some of my hair behind my ear. "There's a way that I have acquired that taught me about this world that no one here understands. Basically, one day while I was in the process of…" I pause as I try to think of what to say, but nothing good comes to mind, so I just blurt out the first thing I think of, "using what I had acquired, I became sucked into this world. How you wonder? Good question, because I have no freaking idea. And yeah, so I ended up here."

"Does that mean you don't have that toxin stuff?"

"I haven't come in contact with Sin in any way, shape, or form that I know of, so no," I shake my head. "And my thoughts? You don't, either. My theory on this whole 'toxin' thing is some people get it, and some don't. You don't have Sin's toxin, but in your case, it is a good excuse."

"Well, since you're so smart, what is my case?" Tidus takes a seat next to me on the edge. I make a few clicking noises with my tongue as I try to come up with an answer. What am I going to say? I can't explain the video game to Wakka and the others, and I'm sure there's no way in hell that whatever the hell is causing that and brought me here is going to allow me to tell Tidus of his plight. My shoulders sag slightly as I turn to look at the Blitzer next to me.

"I'm sorry, Tidus, but I can't tell you that." He gives me puppy dog eyes in response. I shake my head 'no' at his attempt. "It's hard to explain. It falls under the same category as why I can't explain how I know of this place." He keeps looking at me with those eyes…damn, they're such a gorgeous color…so pretty… Damnit, stop it! Argh! After a few more minutes, Tidus gives up and leans back on the stones.

"Overall, though, what you're saying is that we're pretty much in the same boat," he says, looking up towards the sky.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, at least we can figure this out together," he grins at me and sticks a hand out in my direction. "Sound good, partner?" I giggle lightly and reach my hand out and accept his handshake.

"Sounds good to me," I smile back. We let go and continue to sit there.

"By the way, your clothes are really cool, especially compared to everyone else here and the people back in Zanarkand," he says, grabbing my sleeve and examining the embroidery. "Those people kept whispering something about you and 'Summoner' or whatever. Is that what you meant by me meeting my first Summoner?" I tap my finger on my chin and think about it. A few days ago, I myself said I look like a Summoner, but why exactly did I say it?

"You know, I think it's just because…well…they're pretty fancy, I guess," I shrug. "If you've noticed on all those statues, their clothing was different from everyone else's. Hell, Braska was only ten years ago, and those robes or whatever of his were bitchin'!" I laugh. Tidus laughs lightly with me. "But no, I'm not Summoner…I think…"

"Huh, well," Tidus starts, pushing himself into a sitting position, "as long as you think you're right, I guess that's good." I smile and nod. "Now come on, I'm starting to get hungry." He jumps the small gap between him and the ground then turns and offers me a hand down. Man, everyone is like a gentleman in this game, what gives?! Where the hell are guys like this back at college? I accept and he helps me down. He lets go of my hand and I start leading him towards Wakka's tent. I'm pretty sure what happens in the game at this point is going to happen here, too, so that makes me wonder what I'm going to do while Tidus naps or whatever?

Sure enough, Wakka is there sitting in front of his large pot like he was the other day, stirring stew again, probably. He looks up as we walk in with a smile on his face.

"Hey, sorry guys," he says. "Lunch is taking longer than I thought." He takes a moment to study the two of us. "Hey, Tidus, maybe you should take a nap or something, you look bushed!"

"You know, that actually sounds like a good idea," Tidus says, yawning at the end of his sentence as if the word 'nap' brought it on. Wakka points to his bed that is in plain view and Tidus nods and heads over. He flops down on the bed and places his hands behind his head. Not more than five seconds later Wakka and I can hear light snoring. He chuckles.

"What about you, ya?" he turns his attention to me.

"I'm actually pretty…" I start to say, and then trail off. My head suddenly feels very foggy and heavy. I can hear…something…like it's telling me to rest… Rest and relax… Yeah, you know…maybe I should…rest… The bed's not too far. I feel myself take a step forward, and then another slow step forward. On the third step, my vision goes black and the last thing I hear is me landing on the floor with a thud.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Author: **Huh, you know what? Now that I look at it I like this chapter a lot. I mean, for the fact that there's only so much you can do when Tidus shows up and you don't want to head straight into the Cloister yet, I think I did a pretty damn good job!

**Setsuna:** …You were thinking bad things about my man…

**Author:** Setsuna, we've been through this…

**Setsuna:** Whatever.

**Author:** Yeah, so, I hope you like this! I'm pretty proud of my outcome after being worried this chapter would be…I 'unno, haha. As I always say, if you find any errors, please feel free to point them out to me. Oh, and I really hope I don't start making any of the characters OC. If I stray a bit, please don't make a big deal about it or whatever, but if it's a big bother or whatever to any of you readers, let me know nicely. Umm…what else to say? I'm going to try really hard to get the next chapter up soon, so look forward to it, haha. (Man, this is like…not counting the beginning and ending notes for each chapter…this is the longest one so far…huh…)


	5. Back to Basics

**Author: **Hello everybody! Fastest update ever, no? Hehe. First things first… **Please make sure to check out my Author's Note at the end of this chapter when you're done reading it, I cannot stress that enough…or else a certain **_**somebody**_** is going to be really pissed off at me. **Sorry Setsuna's not here for the opening note. She's way too damn cool to be here and suffer through this fanfic, so she decided to go on vacation since today's her birthday. Well, it's not really a vacation, it's more of a "get away from me thing" since she may be my "alternate ego" and all, which she really isn't, she's just so badass that I want to _be_ her, but she finds me annoying at times so she decided to leave my head for a while and celebrate her birthday on her own…away from me. It makes me sad. I love Set, but then again, everybody loves Set! LOVE HER!

So yeah, I totally know that it's been like a week since my last update, but I totally had so many ideas that I couldn't wait to show you guys it! I finally got off my ass and typed up something to give you guys, don'tcha love me!? You do right? Right? Because you know I love you guys. I love your reviews, they keep me going. Wow, that sounds so pathetic, haha, man I suck so much.

Anyways, I hope this chapter is up to par with my other ones because the last thing I want to do is disappoint all you guys and scare you away from my fanfics and you never read them anymore because this has been my only escape from reality in soooo long. I really need to get some friends. I need a life.

**This story is rated T for Teen by the SSS Corp. (Setsuna Says So) because there are many things in the chapter that are not for little kids. I write really stupid stuff and swear a lot, and I will tell you, there is **_**A LOT OF SWEARING**_** in this chapter because in reality I swear like a sailor but I tone it down in this fanfic because I don't want to be a weirdo, so little children shouldn't read it. There are many fantasy aspects in this chapter as is in the game and I really wish I could be in the game because blah blah blah. Haha. I like this explanation better than the previous ones.**

**(Oh, and I totally own **_**Final Fantasy X**_** and Tidus. Auron is a creepy old man that nobody should own and besides, he's DEAD. That's right, spoiler people, spoiler, Auron's DEAD. Hahahaha! I honestly have no idea why I said I would own him over Tidus, seriously.)**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A young woman is sitting in her dorm room at college. Next to her is a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos. While watching TV, she constantly reaches her hand into the bag and pulls out a handful of her snack and stuffs them into her mouth…and then complains about how she just shoved like five of them into her mouth at once and that her mouth is on fire. Dumb bitch, haha. She tilts her head at all the weird guys on that MTV show "Tool Academy" and laughs at that one guy who constantly cries or whatever they show on that E! show "The Soup" or…yeah. After yawning, she wipes her red-stained hands from the Cheetos onto her bed sheets and stands up.

"You know what, I'm bored as hell like always," she declares, punching her fist in the air. "I wanna play some _Final Fantasy X_ and stare at Tidus all night long! And maybe Auron…I 'unno, he's old."

She heads over to her drawers that hold all her precious games, both X-Box 360 and PS2, because she has nothing better to do than to still play 10 year old games on a basically 10 to 11 year old system. Seriously, the damn 360 is sitting right underneath the damn PS2! Get with the times, stupid! Anyways, she opens the bottom drawer to retrieve the game case and realizes it's glowing.

"Huh, you know, I think I've been eating way too many damn Hot Cheetos because that box is looking really funny," she says, but yet the dumb bitch grabs the case anyways and stands up. She opens the case and pops the disc from its holder thing and places it in the tray after turning on the PS2. She returns to her bed and sits there, drooling like an idiot while she waits for her stupid, outdated FAT PS2 to load the game. Finally, after about…20 mins, yeah, that's good, make her sit and wait, haha, the game finally loads and she's able to access her saved game. She plays for a while, constantly killing Wakka because we all know that nobody can stand him, on purpose. As she's in a battle, that little green "Eject" button on the front of the PS2 beams a green light onto the young woman's forehead. She looks up at the dot on her forehead, cross-eyed, even though she technically can't see it, but the moron tries anyway, but nevertheless she sees the "Eject" button emitting light.

"I really think I need to lay off those Hot Cheetos…" she muses, before she suddenly has a BLACKOUT.

Her head hurts and she realizes she's laying on metal, which is funny because there's tile on the floor of her dorm and it's cold like metal, so it could technically be her tile, I don't know why she jumped to the conclusion that it was metal before opening her eyes. Who the hell does she think she is? She lifts her head and looks around and realizes that she's on a ship…a ship that looks really familiar, which is funny because she's never BEEN on a ship. Stupid.

"Hey, wait a minute…" she says out loud, not caring that she probably looks stupid for talking to herself. "This is…it isn't, is it? It can't be…"

Her eyes dart around and she realizes a really hot guy with blonde hair and an immediately recognizable outfit, and a really preppy, hyper girl standing next to him in a tight wet suit. The woman automatically recognizes them as Tidus and Rikku from the game she was just playing.

"I think those Cheetos slipped through the factory with like drugs laced in them or something, because this ain't right." Technically, neither is her sentence. "Aint't right?" And SHE'S the English major? Pfft.

Rikku turns her head and sees the young woman getting to her feet. Her face breaks out into a large, eye-blinding grin.

"Hey, **apuid desa oui kud ib!**" Rikku says, finishing her sentence in her native tongue of Al Bhed. The young woman knows that what she said translates to 'about time you got up!' which is funny because it's been years since she's even written anything in Al Bhed and could fluently translate the writing, but couldn't exactly decipher the speaking part or whatever, but for some reason she could understand it just fine!

_Wow, I can't believe I understood that! I'm a bigger nerd than I thought because I understood a fictional language that's only spoken in a video game! Oh wait, why can I hear myself? Holy shit, I must be the main character in the "game" because Tidus has voiceovers, too, so squee! Mine are going to be smarter than his because I say so!_

"**Fryd ys E tuehk rana?**" the young woman says in Al Bhed back to Rikku, and her sentence translates to 'What am I doing here?' Go learn yourself some Al Bhed, I shouldn't have to translate for you, you lazy people.

The young Al Bhed looks confused. Tidus looks over to the young woman as she pushes herself to her feet. He smiles to himself.

"Hey, you're cute," he says in his sexy voice. Yevon, it just makes you melt! "What's your name?"

"S-Stephanie…" the young woman stammers as she's caught off-guard as _he_ **sighs** speaks to her. "You can call me 'Steph' for short."

"Wow," he smiles, leaning his back against the railing and arching back _just_ enough so that his muscles seem to ripple and Steph gets a good look at his chest. "That's a pretty name. Very unique."

"Nah, it's not unique," Steph responds. "It's actually very common, like me, and not unique at all, because when I was born, Stephanie was the most common baby name, and Facebook gave my parents an F- in originality or whatever."

Rikku stares at her confused, but Tidus just keeps staring at her.

"So…" Rikku says, "why were you sleeping on the deck?"

Stephanie looks confused, like always, and then glances around at her surroundings.

"I don't even know why I'm here," she responds.

"Did you get close to Sin?" Rikku asks, leaning against the railing next to Tidus. Steph growls slightly because she wants to push her away from him.

"You know," Steph muses, "I thought Sin was just in a video game…"

"What's a 'video game?'" Tidus asks, tilting his head slightly and the hair from the lights on the salvage ship make his hair shine.

"Steph," Rikku cuts in, "I think you were close to Sin. It's a good thing we picked you up…I think, because I'm still confused as to how you got here in the first place. Anyways, my name is-"

"You're Rikku," Steph cuts in, point to the Al Bhed. "And you're," she starts giggling as she moves her finger to point at Tidus. "You're dreamy – I mean, Tidus!"

"How'd you know who we were?" Rikku asks, staring at her.

"I can't say because it would probably break some kind of space-time continuum or something really smart and technological but I'm just an English major so I know nothing smart. So anyways, are you going to help me get back home?"

"Are you from Zanarkand like Tidus?" Rikku asks.

"Nah, I think I'd remember a cutie like her," Tidus winks.

"No, actually, I'm from this place called Earth," Steph responds.

"Well, whatever," Rikku waves her hand to dismiss the inevitable conversation about what Earth is. "I'm taking Tidus to Luca. You wanna come with?" she asks.

"Yeah, sure, why the hell not?" Steph responds. "I got nothing better to do with my time anyway, here and back home."

"Okay," Rikku nods. "I'm going to tell the others. Wait here, okay?"

Rikku smiles and runs to the door to go into the ship, but ends up running into the door just before it opens, so she falls backwards on her ass. After standing up and regaining her bearings, she runs inside. Steph walks over to the railing where Rikku just was and leans on it, looking out into the sea with Tidus looking out next to her.

_Sin's gonna come, and hopefully I'll get swept off to Besaid with Tidus. Ugh, Besaid. I think it's the Wakka and the Yuna I don't like. Stupid Yuna._

"So how'd you get here?" Tidus turns his head and looks over at Steph.

"No idea," she laughs. "I think the food I ate was drugged and I'm having some hallucination."

Tidus reaches over and pinches her on the butt. She jumps and breaks out into a blush.

"Well that proves I'm not dreaming," she giggles like an idiot.

Suddenly the ship shakes and a WHALE pops out of the water. Hahaha, a WHALE! That's scary?! Ahem, anyway, Tidus and Steph get thrown overboard. Steph has another BLACKOUT. I wanna know what's with her, the stupid bitch.

Steph and Tidus are floating face down in the water. Tidus jolts awake, shaking his head as he regains his bearing, then notices Steph's unconscious. He takes her in his arms and goes to give her mouth to mouth and, HEY, why the hell does SHE get to kiss him! Let's see, how to intervene…oh! A blitzball comes from nowhere and SMACKS her on the side of the head and it wakes her up! THERE, haha, and that's why I'M the author, and not…er, I'M the author! Steph wakes up and looks out over the water to the beach where Wakka and the rest of his Yevon-awful team are.

_That bastard! Tidus was inches away from my face! I could've kissed him! Hmm…_

Steph treads the water…I think that's what you call it, and pulls the blitzball to her. She throws in up in the air, somehow defies gravity and jumps up after it, does some sort of flip, and then kicks it back towards Wakka…who swiftly dodges it. Haha, dumb bitch can't aim.

_Wow, I'm athletic! In this world I'm not just a stupid nerd who sucks at sports! Yay me!_

Tidus and Steph swim to shore and are greeted by Wakka.

"Again, again!" he laughs and claps his hands, you know, like the Teletubbies did on that damn show...I watched it 'cause I babysat from time to time. Hahaha, the purple one.

This time, Tidus grabs a blitzball and does his amazing flip kick.

"Wow, you two aren't amateurs, who you play for?" Wakka asks. "Who you?" Shouldn't it be like… "who do you?" Blech, Wakka.

"No one, because I'm lame!" Steph answers.

"The Zanarkand Abes!" Tidus answers.

Steph reaches over and hits Tidus in those abs of his.

"Hope you like getting stared at," she mutters.

"Why?" Tidus asks.

"You hit your head or something?" Wakka asks. He's going to speak properly soon, right?

"Got close to Sin," Steph answers.

"At least you two are alive," Wakka says, impressed. "Praise Be to Yevon."

Wakka does the whole Prayer gesture thing. Steph returns it.

"Oh yeah, I'm Wakka," he says.

"I'm Stephanie," Steph answers. "You can call me Steph for short."

"And I'm Tidus!" he says.

"So make yourselves at home!" Wakka exclaims, throwing his arms in the air. "I'll show you anywhere you want to go on this island!"

"Yay, good for you," Steph mutters. "Can we head to the Village now? My head hurts like the hangover I've never had."

"Yeah, sure, let's go!" Wakka punches a fist in the air. "Follow me!"

Tidus and Steph follow Wakka and stuff, and they get to the cove where Wakka pushes Tidus into the water… that happens, then Steph pushes Wakka into the water because she thinks it's funny that he pulls that sorta stuff with a stranger in the first place. And then, she jumps in, but since she's stupid and has never really done that before, she ends up doing a belly flop and hurting herself pretty bad…but Wakka and Tidus don't seem to notice. Seriously, I wouldn't either, I'd let her just suffer there. She shakes herself out of the pain and follows Wakka and Tidus as they swim and swim… and swim…which is actually pretty funny because the dumb bitch can't swim very well. Then Wakka disappears and suddenly grabs Tidus by the throat and Steph by the waist…yeah, he's totally trying to cop a feel, the perv, haha.

"Got a favor to ask the two of ya!" he declares. You know…at this part of the game, his sentences…actually just him over all, piss me off, haha.

"You want us on your team because we're obviously really good and your team just sucks ass so you think we'll make it better and someone in Luca for the big blitzball tournament might recognize us there," Steph answers, shaking herself free of the messed up Besadian.

"How you know that, ya?" Wakka asks.

"Because I'm crazy and playing a video game that has you in it and then basically coming here and telling you stuff sorta makes me like a stalker," Steph beams. Wakka and Tidus just stare at her.

"O-kay…so what do ya say, huh? Come on, come on!" Wakka says.

"Sure thing," Tidus answers, floating on his back.

"Dude! Our team is-" Wakka starts.

"Gonna suck because I'm going to be on it!" Steph cheers. Wakka rolls his eyes and then starts swimming away. Steph takes a while to swim after them since she can't swim underwater very well. Haha.

They start walking towards the village… Wakka gives his life story and Tidus says he'll help the team win… Steph snores through the whole story… just like what happens when she plays the game because no offense, Wakka's story is unnecessary and doesn't really add _too_ much to the game. They pass Luzzu and Gatta, blah, blah, blah, they arrive in Besaid Village. This story sucks, why am I still writing it?

"You two remember the Prayer, right?" Wakka asks, turning to the two new people.

"Uh, are you stupid?" Steph asks. "I did it in front of you on the beach because I have nothing better to do than to imitate parts of a video game like the Prayer gesture and the Sending portion because I think it makes me look cool," she grins stupidly. "I'll teach it to Tidus so you can get the hell outta here."

"Uhh…yeah, sure, see ya two later!" Wakka says as he turns away and leaves to head to his hut house. Is it only because they're on an island that they have those tiny hut house tent things? and then you can just walk right into them whenever you damn well please?

Steph tells Tidus the Prayer is the blitzball sign for Victory and then drags him off to the Temple. You know what? There's really no point in explaining what happens in the Temple. You guys should all know that, I mean, why look up fanfics if you haven't played the game? Duh. Hahaha. So, yeah, Steph ends up explaining half of what the Priest originally says because who wouldn't jump at a chance to talk to Tidus? So instead we'll skip to where they get to Wakka's hut. He's inside sitting on the floor cooking. What, is he too lazy to stand?

"Sorry, guys, lunch ain't ready yet," Wakka says, hardly looking up from whatever is in the pot thing in his…living room? I don't understand the layouts of these huts because they're tiny, haha. "Take a nap, guys! You look bushed!"

"Yeah, sounds good, and I sorta have a pounding headache," Steph complains. "Got any Tylenol?"

"Ty-what?" Wakka and Tidus ask.

"Never mind, I don't know why I'd bring up something from _my_ world that you guys wouldn't understand, I guess I'm just stupid at assuming that there's the possibility that it's here," she explains.

Tidus and Wakka just shrug. Tidus heads over to the bed in the same room as the apparent living room _and_ kitchen. Steph giggles and follows.

"Now worries, Wakka, I totally don't mind sharing the bed!" she exclaims. "And uh…you can touch me if you want," she winks. Gah, the slut!!

Tidus stares for a second and then shrugs again, lying down on the right side of the bed, and Steph takes the left so she can lay on her right side and stare at Tidus. Creepy… They drift to sleep soon after.

_Steph's Dream_

_Steph is standing on what appears to be Jecht's Sword at the end of the game. Spoilers, haha! Auron is walking towards her, pyreflies swarming around him._

"_Stephanie, I don't want you to forget me, okay?" he says, reaching an arm towards her and wrapping an arm around her waist._

_Steph grimaces and grabs his shoulders._

"_I'm not going to forget you…I just don't want you touching me!" she screams and shoves him off the sword._

_End of Steph's Dream_

Steph sits up on the bed, rolling off of it by accident since she's stupid, and lands in a heap on the floor.

"Woohoo, I shoved Auron off a sword, haha!" she squeals like a banshee.

Tidus wakes up with a start, then leans over the bed and looks at her coyly.

"Well good morning, sunshine," he smiles. "Hey, where's Wakka?" he asks.

"Probably at the Temple, we should go see him, argh," she grimaces and stands up. She runs out of the tent with Tidus following not too far behind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Author: **Boy, I really like that chapter! even though parts of it, well most of it, sucked ass.

**Loud crashing is heard then a door is kicked up to the room where the Author is sitting at her computer.**

**Me: ****Walks in, dripping with water and seaweed stuck to me in various places.** SETSUNA!!!!

"**Author":** I'm sorry…I don't know who you're talking about. I'm Golden-Assassin.

**Me, the REAL Author:** What the hell did you do!

**Setsuna:** Okay, fine, I knocked you out, shoved you in a car, and then jumped out of the car as I let it roll into a lake. So, quoting "Family Guy," "Hey, Drippy." **Evil smile.**

**Me: ****Stares at the screen." What the hell is this?!

**Setsuna:** The new chapter, duh.

**Me:** No, this is the first draft I ever wrote for this story back when I started high school! Why the hell did you fix this up and rewrite it... God, your writing sucks ass, Set… Okay, now erase it, and stop making fun of me. Did you really have to be so mean to me?

**Setsuna:** Yes to your last question, and no, it's my birthday, and I'm allowed to do what I want, so I decided to make an _**APRIL FOOL'S **_chapter for the people who follow this Yevon-forsakened thing since you basically told me "Have fun since it's your birthday!" so I took full advantage, and if you make me not post it, then you're a liar for telling me that.

**Me:** Okay, fine, post it. But if people get pissed, it's on _your_ head! but I guess if it _is_ just an _**APRIL FOOL'S **_chapter, then I can let it slide…as long as you made a proper note for all these…horrible sentences… Seriously, Setsuna, you can't type for shit.

**Setsuna:** I don't care, I just want to piss people off. **Stands up from chair.** I'm going drinking, catch a later.

_**APRIL FOOL'S!!! PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME!!!**_

(as you can tell, I "proof-read" this chapter like once, but since it was meant to be a joke, I didn't put too much time into it, so yeah. Please enjoy. I currently am working on the _**REAL**_ chapter to this story, so hopefully, the next chapter might be up soon, but I have drawing class projects to do and stuff, so yeah. Please don't be mad and tell me this is cruel, I thought it was all in good-fun ^_~)


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